Leaps of Faith
by Tony Dark
Summary: FINALLY UPDATED!May Maple would do anything to get rid of her life. TJ Kane would do anything to have it. when the two meet, the adventure and love of a lifetime occurs, rated PG13 for cussing,violence,sensuality, rating may go up(MayOC).
1. Afternoon Angel

**Author's Note:** Hey everybody! It's Doctor Nick! Okay, sorry, had to get that offa my  
chest. Anyway, I'm Tony "TJ" Dark, and this is my first published fic. I had five in the  
works but then my parents deleted them Anyway, be nice, no massively mean flames,  
and if you do review please make it constructive--you know, what you liked, didn't like,  
would like to see, etc. Updates are gonna be kinda sporadic, but I'll do my best. Oh yeah,  
these first two chapters are gonna be from May's perspective, followed by a few chapters  
from TJ's perspective, and then it's just gonna go wherever, perspective-wise.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokémon, Houenn, May, or any derivitave thereof. I do own  
my character TJ, and I own his method of arrival (unless God wishes to take credit).

**Note:** "Speaking"  
_Thinking_  
Pokéspeak  
Psychic conversations  
**Flashbacks**

**Chapter One:**  
**Afternoon Angel**

The sun was beginning its daily dance with the clouds as 17-year-old May Maple sighted Littleroot. Sighing in an uncomfortable manner, she picked up her pace a little  
and headed towards the little mountain town. As she walked she absentmindedly rubbed  
the two pokéballs hanging on her belt.

A grim smile appeared on her face as Birch's laboratory came into view. That was  
where it had all started; that was where it would end, for her. A year and a half with Ash,  
and two on her own. And what did she have to show for it? A vision of a Beautifly  
covered in pink ribbons flashed through her head, but she angrily shoved it away.  
Dammit, she was through! A washout! A worthless bum! Her pokémon deserved better  
than that! Unbidden, a picture of Ash floated into her head, smiling confidently after his  
win in Sootopolis. He had striven _so_ hard to get there, and overcome _so_ many obstacles.  
And she had been right there with him, traveling, winning contests, learning the ins and  
outs of a coordinator. And she grew older, and as she grew, she fell in love with him. It  
seemed only natural, after all. And wasn't he her elder by a year anyway? Shouldn't he be  
feeling for her as well? Well, alright, maybe not the way _Brock_ felt about girls, but still,  
_something_!

Rebellious eyes shed tears of pain, but May didn't notice. _No_, she thought, _nothing. Not a thing. He went home without so much as a heartfelt goodbye. He couldn't care less about me_.

"Stop it, dammit!" she yelled at herself.

May sniffled, noticing for the first time that she was crying. Well, it wouldn't do  
to have her mom see her like this, would it? No, it wouldn't. So she made a small detour,  
kneeling at a nearby stream to wash her face. May sighed. When Ash had left, just a short  
"See ya!" and a boat's motor gunning, she had finally admitted to herself that he didn't  
care about her. Not that way, anyway. Oh sure, she could have followed him, but it  
wouldn't have changed anything. When she admitted that, something changed in her.  
Something broke. So she went off on her own journey of discovery, and _screw_ Ash. She  
traveled Houenn for two years, seeking out master coordinators and learning the secrets  
of being totally and completely cute. It didn't take much work for her, and Beautifly  
mastered it easily enough. And there was always Torchic, later Combusken, to help her,  
comfort her, protect her. Two years she journeyed. Two years she traveled. Two years she  
_ran_. And when she finally grew up enough to admit this as well, she decided that  
Beautifly and Combusken deserved more than a trainer who constantly ran from the  
memory of one-sided love. So she despairingly began the journey back to Littleroot, and  
her mother.

May stood up and stretched, hearing joints pop. Damn, it used to be easier to walk  
around. _Well, no sense holding off on the inevitable_, she thought. Returning to the path,  
she glanced at her pokéballs wistfully. She could still picture in her mind the scene  
yesterday when she had explained to her pokémon what was going to happen...

**"...And since he has connections to just about every important person in Houenn, I'm sure he'll be able to find you a good trainer, so I'm turning you over to him, 'K guys?"**

**Beautifly had stared at her, then started laughing like it was all a huge joke. When May only smiled sadly instead of joining in, Beuatifly became very distressed and started doing all the cute little tricks that had won her competitions in days gone by. Over and over again she swooped, fluttered, and hovered before May's face. But Combusken just stood there, looking at May with a mixture of sorrow and pity, and then walked over, grabbed her hand, patted it, and hugged her hips and leg.**

**This had been the wrong thing to do, and May had angrily put Combusken and Beautifly into their pokéballs, and then stuffed the balls angrily into their slots on her belt. "Dammit you guys, can't you see I'm doing this for your own good? It's for the best!"**

Tears threatened to spill from her eyes again. She angrily dashed them away, then  
gazed sadly at her pokéballs. _It's for the best_, she thought, _but still_...

"I'm sorry, guys," she whispered.

May was walking the streets of Littleroot slowly, but it only delayed her fate.  
Littleroot was a quaint little town, mostly a retirement community. Elderly couples came  
here for the invigorating mountain air, although May's father Norman had moved his  
family there for the peace and tranquility, the still quiet of the-

"Hey you! Girl!"

Oh well, so much for peace and tranquility. May turned to see three boys, her age  
or a little older, staggering towards her. The sun was finishing its dance with the clouds,  
only about fifteen to twenty minutes of daylight remained. Due to the fact that the boys  
were coming at her from the East, she couldn't make out any of their features, but they  
were all very big.

"Hey you," said the boy in front-May assumed he was the leader, "Arnchoo a  
trainer?"

May could have told them she was, in fact, a pokémon _coordinator_, much  
different, but why bother? She shrugged indifferently. "Yeah, so?"

"Then you gotta battle!" said the leader. Up close it was evident that all three had  
been drinking heavily. Their breathe reeked of alcohol and vile homemade additives, and  
they were swaying a bit. May snorted. She could take a few drunk losers anyday.

"Alright, I'm game. Let's go!"

"I chooze YOU!" eight pokéballs shot out and exploded into snarling monsters.  
Beautifly and Combusken came out in battle stances, ready to pummel anyone foolish  
enough to attack their trainer. Surrounding them in a loose circle were two Zigzagoon, a  
Poochyena, two Wurmple, and a Taillow.

"Hey, no fair!" shouted May. "You're fighting with six guys, and I've only got  
two! That's cheating!"

"Yeah?" said the leader. He belched, then said, "So?"

Inside May seethed at his treatment of her, but outwardly her face slipped into an  
impassive mask. "Fine, but don't whine when I beat your ass. Ready?"

"Yeah."

"Then let's go! Beautifly, Sleep Powder! Combusken, Double Kick the Poochyenas!"

Beautifly flew high above the street, raining down sleep spores on the  
unsuspecting ground dwellers. Combusken also sprang into action, striking out at the  
Poochyena, felling each with a single blow. May giggled.

"Hey, no fair! That's cheating!"

"Oh yeah, and six on two isn't?"

"Fine, we c'n fight that way! Zigzagoon, Bubblebeam Combusken! Taillow, Wing  
Attack Beautifly! Wurmple, String Shot Beautifly down to earth!"

Pokémon battle cries resounded as the combatants clashed again. Combusken  
managed to take out both Zigzagoon, but it was clear that the crossfire from two  
bubblebeams at once had severely weakened him, and he was barely able to stand.  
Beautifly had managed to Gust Taillow out of the battle, but had been unable to block  
Wurmple, and was now unable to move, much less battle. May recalled her.

"Alright Combusken, it's up to you to finish this! Fire Punch that Wurmple!"

Wurmple, String Shot 'im!"

Wurmple spewed silk, but Combusken shoved his now burning fist in the way and  
burned it off all the way to his target--Wurmple's head! Wurmple flew twenty feet, rolled  
a few times, then flopped limply and didn't get back up.

May danced over to Combusken, and squealed happily, "You did it! Good job  
Combusken!"

Combusken stared up at her gravely, then nodded. He clacked his beak once, then  
opened his mouth to speak. Whatever he was going to say May never found out, because  
suddenly a large rock crashed down onto his head, knocking him out. The leader of the  
boys stood over him, huffing.

May yelled in indignation and concern, and rushed over to Combusken. She held  
her ear to hiss chest and was relieved to hear him breath. She returned him to his  
pokéball, then stood and started yelling at the boy.

"What the HELL do you think you're doing, dammit! You could have hurt him, or  
or killed him, you stuck up jerk, there's no need to beat on my pokémon just because you  
lost, and you are such a sore loser, and I hope that your house crashes down on you,  
and you lose your pokémon, and...umm...uhh..."

May trailed off. For the first time she noticed that all three boys were staring at  
her, and all of them looked angry. Angry and...something else. Something that scared her.

"Don' like you beet'n us," said the leader. "s'not nice."

May could now smell the alcohol even more strongly. The boy looked evil, they  
all looked evil. May was very very scared. "Y-y-you're drunk," she stuttered, "y-you  
should just l-leave me alone."

"Y' should 'pologize fer bein' not nice," said the boy. "Y' should do somethin'  
nice fer us."

May was now terrified. "W-what do you have in m-mind?" she asked.

The boy didn't answer, he just stared at her chest. Now, May was no classic  
beauty, but she was fairly cute. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what he  
wanted. May screamed.

"Get away from me!" she shouted. She turned to run but ran into something,  
another one of the boys. He shoved her roughly back, then spun her around to face the  
leader.

"Bad girl," he said in a low voice. Then he backhanded her.

Littleroot town spun around. It seemed to take hours for May to fall, and when she  
hit the ground the world shook. Littleroot continued to spin as her pulse hammered in her ears. She heard a clicking noise, and with a shock realized that it was the leader unzipping  
his pants. He leered down at her, and his friends started trying to rip off her clothes.

"Don'choo worry baby, gonna make ya feel reeeel good," slurred the boy.

May tried to scream again, but one of the boys gagged her mouth with his shirt.  
_Oh God oh God oh God I'm gonna die_, thought May, _oh God help me someone anyone  
please help me oh God_...

And then a miracle happened.

"HAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIYAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

Down from the fading sunset came an angel, a battle cry tearing from his lips, his  
robes billowing about him, and his sword flashing in the sun's rays. One of the boys was  
down before he knew what hit him, he fell and didn't get back up. The other boy holding  
her stood up drunkenly, trying to put up his fists. The angel swung his sword at both  
hands, and the boy screamed out in agony. The angel swung a third time, at the boy's side  
making him double up, then a final time at the boy's head. He too did not get up. Now  
only the leader was left.

He was standing unevenly, staring at the angel with a mixture of fear and  
contempt. "The fuck do you want!" he snarled.

The angel said nothing, merely swung his sword into a ready position, and  
beckoned with his right hand. The leader screamed in rage and charged at the angel,  
weaving drunkenly for ten yards. The angel stood still until the leader was less than a foot  
away, then snapped up his left hand, leveled out his sword and shoved it in the leader's  
face. The leader screamed, blood flew, and the boy's body thudded to a halt next to her.

The angel stuck his sword in his robes, then turned around and strode over to  
May. He knelt down, the final rays of sunlight framing his face.

"Are you all right?" he asked?

May couldn't help but notice that his voice was pleasantly light, a sweet tenor  
with overtones of concern that made her heart flip over, for some reason. She smiled, and  
tried to answer him. No words came out; May frowned, that was odd! Maybe it was  
because she was so very tired. She really wanted to reassure the angel, tell him she was  
fine, and thank him for rescuing her, but she was so very tired, and it was already  
nighttime, and so she was sure that the angel wouldn't mind if she just thanked him in the  
morning. And with that thought, she promptly blacked out.

**A/N:**Evil, Aren't I? Hopefully I should have an update sometime around tomorrow, or maybe the next day. Anyway, read and review!


	2. Funny Name for an Angel!

A/N: Hey y'all! A review! I got a review! I LOVE YOU BREEZY! I swear, I could give you a kiss!

(sounds of someone running)No wait! Stop, it was a joke! Come baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

Three hours later...  
Geeeeeeeeeeeez, am I that ugly? Oh well, read and review!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, Houenn, May, or any derivitave thereof. I do own my character TJ, and I own his method of arrival (unless God wishes to take credit).

Note: "Speaking"  
_ Thinking  
_ Pokéspeak  
Psychic conversations  
** Flashbacks  
** SHOUTING

Chapter Two:  
"That's a Funny Name for an Angel!"

May was floating on a pillow of clouds high up in the sky. There was very little wind, the sun was shining brightly, and a little town was slipping by beneath her. It would have been perfect, except for the half a dozen or so Makuhita that were hitting her in the head with their gloves. May could already feel a massive headache coming on because of it, and she didn't want it to get worse.

"Hey, come on, stop it you guys! I don't have any food! Go away!"

May would have continued on this vein for quite some time, but there was a fluttering sound, and the angel landed on her cloud. May instantly forgot the Makuhita hitting her; she forgot her headache, her miserable life, and even her name. All that mattered was the angel in front of her. He had a flowing mane of golden hair, so vibrant that it practically glowed. He was tanned, and strong, standing about six feet tall. He was smiling down at her, and she smiled  
back up at him. His face was very handsome, in fact he looked a bit like a grown up, mature version of Ash.

"Hi," she said. Her voice came out smoothly, like velvet. She was glad that she hadn't squeaked like she used to around Ash. She stood up so that they were almost face to face.

"I just wanted to thank you for saving my life. I don't know where you came from, but you're the best miracle I could ever hope for. Thank you."

The angel just smiled.

May smiled back, but she felt that she hadn't thanked him enough. Suddenly an idea came to her. Normally May would never have been so bold, but somehow being on the cloud changed her into a different person. May strode over to the angel, tilted her head, and put her right hand on her hip in a confidant manner.

"You know, I don't think that I've thanked you enough. How about I give you a kiss?"

The angel smiled, then closed his eyes and puckered his lips.

May's heart kicked into overdrive. She could hear the blood pounding in her ears, and her throat seemed to have disappeared into a desert, it was so dry. Moving quickly, so she wouldn't lose her nerve, May encircled her hands around the angel's neck, drawing his face closer to hers. She felt the tension in his neck, he was as nervous as she was! Oh well, might as well get it over with. May hoped that her inexperience didn't show. She puckered her mouth, and slowly drew it towards the angel's. Her breathing was speeding up, she closed her eyes, she waited for the moment when their lips would touch...

And then the angel BIT her!

May staggered back from the angel, confused. "What the HELL do you think you're doing!" she shouted.

"TOR! TORCHIC TOR CHICK TOR CHITOR TOR!" said the angel.

Or was he an angel? Suddenly May noticed that his hair wasn't just glowing gold, it was a bright red. And had he always had that red feather ornamentation on his head? Speaking of heads, hers was _really_ starting to pound. And the cloud didn"t really feel like a cloud. What the hell was going on?

May groaned and opened her eyes. She was lying on something, it felt like leather, and it was dark. The angel was nowhere in sight, but there was something in the room with her. It was a Torchic. And its beak was covered in slobber. May stared at it for a moment, then comprehension dawned.

"EWWWW! GROSS!" May began spluttering in an effort to rid her mouth of the Torchic's germs. There was a strange hacking sound, and May glanced over to see the Torchic doing the same thing.

"What do you care," said May, "YOU"RE the one with GERMS!"

May sat down. Someone had set her down on a leather couch, and there had been a washcloth filled with ice on her forehead, but it was spilled everywhere now. The Torchic was now sitting on the back of the couch, eyeing her warily.

"KIP! MUDKIP KIP MUDKIP! KIP MU KIPMUD!"

May spun around to see a Mudkip rolling on the floor, shaking with laughter. She shook her head angrily, and her headache chose that moment to reassert itself. Groaning in pain, May lay down on the couch.

Footsteps sounded from a nearby room, and May looked up to see a serious-looking Treecko walk in. A moment later the angel walked in.

May's stomach felt like it had dropped to her feet. "Oh my God, I'm dead, aren't I! This is Heaven! I'm here forever! Oh no, oh God no, no, no, nononononononono..."

The angel looked at her quizzically. He strode over and shook May until she stopped babbling. May stared at the angel with wide eyes.

"Okay," said the angel, "how many fingers am I holding up?"

He held up two fingers.

"Two,"said May.

"Now?"

"Three."

"Where do you live?"

"Um, Littleroot."

"Good, good, and what's your name?"

May sighed in annoyance. "May Maple. Look, if this is Heaven, then I'm underwhelmed."

The angel stared at her. "Are you sure you're feeling alright?"

"Yes!" said May. This angel was really starting to tick her off.

"Oooo-kay," said the angel uncertainly, "if you say so."

"May sighed. "Can I at least have your name?"

"Umm, suuuure, I'm TJ. TJ Kane."

"TJ? That's a funny name for an angel!"

TJ the angel did a double take. His jaw dropped, and he just stared at May. Then, without warning, he fell to the floor, howling with laughter.

"Hey! What's so funny about me thinking you have a weird name! It's not polite to laugh at other people, you know!

TJ rolled over onto his hands and knees, then stood up and forced himself to stop laughing. Wiping tears out of his eyes, he said, "That's good! That's real good! I've been called a lot of things, most of them not repeatable in polite conversation, but that's the first time I've ever been called an angel!"

May was now _very_ confused. "But, I saw you, you flew down from heaven to stop those boys!

TJ shook his head. "Nope, I just jumped really high to hit one of them. I was quiet until I screamed to make them look up, so you didn't hear me."

May was not to be deterred. "I saw your robes!"

Smiling, TJ indicated a trenchcoat hanging on a coatrack.

"Well, uh, well, what about your sword! Yeah, explain that, smartass!"

"Sword!" TJ was unable to keep from chuckling a bit. "Do you mean this?" And he picked up a metal bat. May could see the blood that stained its sides. Comprehension dawned.

"You mean you killed them with THAT!"

TJ snorted several times in an effort to keep from laughing again. "I didn't kill them," he said with a smile, "I just hit them really hard. They're fine; in fact, I bet they're waking up right about now."

May suddenly felt terrified all over again. "WHAT? WHY DIDN'T YOU LOCK THEM UP! BURY THEM! KILL THEM! SEND THEM FAR FAR AWAY! NOW THEY'RE GOING TO COME AFTER ME!"

TJ shook his head and smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, they probably won't even _remember_ you." His face suddenly looked sad. "They stopped you because they were drunk off their asses.. The reason they were out here is because they were waiting for me. They kinda have a vendetta against me, no idea why. Since I attacked them, they'll focus on me and forget all about you. They most likely can't even remember you right now."

May still felt scared, but somehow having TJ in the room was reassuring. She remembered how he had beat them up, and her fears lessened a little. She let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding.

"Okay, I guess that sounds reasonable. But shouldn't we press charges for attempted rape and underage drinking?"

TJ's mouth twisted in a bitter smile. "You can try," he said, "But you won't get very far. The leader's name is Andy Stone. He's up here to study Professor Birch's technique, and he's learning nothing. His father is president of Devon Corporation, and his brother Steven is the current Houenn league champion. They may not like Andy much, but their feelings extend far enough to keep him out of jail. And they're gonna use every ounce of influence they posses to  
keep the police off his back. The cops won't do anything about him; believe me, I've tried."

May pondered over this. "Wow, hard to believe that two such gentlemanly people could have such an absolute prick as a relative."

TJ nodded glumly in agreement.

They all sat quietly for a minute. Then some thing occurred to May. "Where am I?"

"You're in my house."

"Oh. Is there anything to eat? I haven't eaten since breakfast, and that was at ten."

TJ shrugged, and disappeared to parts unknown. May lay back down on the couch. Her head was really starting to throb. "Could you get some aspirin while you're up?" she hollered. Her head throbbed twice as hard, and she groaned and closed her eyes.

"Here."

May opened her eyes. TJ was holding a little tray sitting before her. There was a bowl of some sort of stew (looked like turkey), a package of soup crackers, a tall glass of water, and two aspirin.

"Thank you," whispered May. She took the aspirin, then slowly started to sip the broth from the stew. It was turkey, and it was good. "Wow, good stew! Did you make it?"

TJ snorted derisively. "Nah, that's my mom's stew from the freezer. I can't cook anything, I even burn water."

"Mmm," grunted May. She gasped suddenly and tried to sit up. TJ quickly snatched the tray with one hand and restrained her with the other. May struggled against his hand and her headache. "You don't understand, I have to call my Mom! She was expecting me _hours_ ago, she's probably worried sick!"

"Relax," said TJ. "I called her as soon as I brought you in. I told her that you had been attacked, I drove them off, and you fainted. That you were fine, but you were pretty shook up, and should probably stay the night here in case the thugs came back. She was a bit upset, but she said she'd see you tomorrow, and told me to take good care of you. Everything's fine."

May calmed down, staring at him like he was going to sprout a second head and start talking. Or maybe sprout wings and fly away...

"Okay. Hey! How'd you know my number! For that matter, how'd you know who I was!"

TJ cleared his throat in an embarrassed manner. He started to flush red, and his eyes darted everywhere. "Um, I, uh, kinda pulled out your Trainer Card while you were out."

TJ was now bright crimson. May was confused. Why did looking through her wallet embarrass him? "Yeah, so? What's so bad about digging through my bag? Do you have something against hip packs?"

TJ blushed, if possible, brighter still. "Um, it wasn't in your bag."

Now May was completely confused. "Then where was it?"

"It was, uh, in your, ummm, your, uh, your pocket."

Her pocket? He was embarrassed about digging through her pocket? Well, okay, so she had a skirt on over her exercise shorts. What was so embarrassing about that? All he had to do was touch her leg! Wait a minute, was that what e was embarrassed about? "You have a problem with touching my _leg_?"

"Ahem! Mmhmm! It, ah, wasn't in your front pocket."

"Then where was it?"

"Ah, it was, ummm, in your, uh, back pocket."

Oh. So he hadn't touched her leg; he had touched her...

May burst out laughing, but quickly stopped. It hurt her head too much.

If TJ had been any redder, his face would have looked like a cherry. "Um, so, ah, I'm, uh, s-sorry about, uh, well, you know..." he trailed off.

May smiled. "I forgive you for touching my butt, if that's what you're apologizing for."

TJ expelled a breath that he had been holding. "Cool. Sorry about that, but I felt that chivalry could move aside in the interest of helping you out. I won't do it again."

May smiled. TJ smiled back, then glanced at the time. "Shit! It's almost eleven! You need to finish your stew and get to bed, young lady!"

May smiled playfully. "Yes Ma'am! I promise to be a good girl!"

TJ assumed a mock-stern expression. "See that you are, or there'll be no dessert for you tomorrow!"

May giggled. "Yes Ma'am," she said meekly through her smile.

"I'll be right back," said TJ, "I'm going to get you some nightclothes and a blanket. Hang tight, I'll be back in a jiffy!"

May finished her stew while TJ bustled about fixing her up a bed and getting her some clothes to sleep in. While she changed in the office, the Torchic and the Treecko helped by holding things, while the Mudkip carried off her ripped-up clothes. She laid down, and TJ picked up the tray by the couch.

"Okay, my room's just upstairs, call me if you need anything. The bathroom is just past the kitchen, and there's a water tank right outside it. Don't hesitate to ask for anything, okay?"

"Okay," said May. TJ turned around to go up the stairs, but before he reached them May said, "Hey TJ?"

TJ turned around, looking concerned. "Yeah?"

"Thanks. Thank you so very much."

"Oh. Uh, no problem." TJ put on a comic look of bravery. "Anything for a beautiful lady!"

And with that TJ went upstairs to his room. The Torchic the Mudkip and the Treecko followed him, and May snuggled down into the covers. _Hmm_, she thought, _a nice guy actually helped me out. What're the odds?_

" 'S funny name for an angel," May murmured. Moments later she was asleep.

A/N: YAY! FINISHED! Sorry, I had planned to explain a lot more in this chapter, but then I realized that there needed to be three, not two, explanations, TJ's character, TJ's present, and TJ's past. I promise that we' ll get into his present in the next chapter, and then it's on to his past! Drumroll please! Read and Review!


	3. The Morning After

A/N: You know, you people are really lucky that I like you. You have no idea what I go through to post these, and since I'm tired from working all day I'm going to bitch about it to you whether you like it or not. To get this story out, I first have to write it. But I couldn't have a _normal_ word processor, nooo, so I write either in an old version of MS Works that's on my dad's office computer, or I write it in WordPerfect on my computer. Then, if it's in WordPerfect, I e-mail it to myself, because my computer doesn't recognize ".htm" as a viable tag. After _that,_ I either take the stuff off Works, or copy from the e-mail, and paste it in wordpad. Still with me? good, because we're just getting started. Now, since it's in wordpad, it can be saved as an ".htm" file, but you have to put in all the tags. I made the mistake of doing that on the first chapter. Once it's tagged and ready, you upload it. Three hours later, I've finished eating, cleaned up, and beaten another gym on my Ruby or Sapphire version. And organized all 300 of my Pokemon:EX cards. I come back, and lo and behold--it's uploaded. With the HTML tags _all visible_. AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH! So I go through and erase them, and format the damn page. Or, for convenience, I delete it all, copy and paste from my wordpad program. The only problem is, my chapters are, on average, six to seven typed pages long. That's a lot to copy, and my dad's computer is a _little_ old, so it can't manage it. So, I go through the story a _third_ time, hoping against hope that it's the last time, and reformat it _again_. And then I proofread it, post it, and discover the million-and-one things that I screwed up on but didn't notice until the whole process was through and would have to be mostly repeated to fix. It's up there on my Top Ten Fun Things To Do List, right below rolling nude on a thumb-tack covered floor.

You know, you people are really lucky that I like you. You have no idea what I go through to post these, and since I'm tired from working all day I'm going to bitch about it to you whether you like it or not. To get this story out, I first have to write it. But I couldn't have a word processor, nooo, so I write either in an old version of MS Works that's on my dad's office computer, or I write it in WordPerfect on my computer. Then, if it's in WordPerfect, I e-mail it to myself, because my computer doesn't recognize ".htm" as a viable tag. After I either take the stuff off Works, or copy from the e-mail, and paste it in wordpad. Still with me? good, because we're just getting started. Now, since it's in wordpad, it can be saved as an ".htm" file, but you have to put in all the tags. I made the mistake of doing that on the first chapter. Once it's tagged and ready, you upload it. Three hours later, I've finished eating, cleaned up, and beaten another gym on my Ruby or Sapphire version. And organized all 300 of my Pokemon:EX cards. I come back, and lo and behold--it's uploaded. With the HTML tags . AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH! So I go through and erase them, and format the damn page. Or, for convenience, I delete it all, copy and paste from my wordpad program. The only problem is, my chapters are, on average, six to seven typed pages long. That's a lot to copy, and my dad's computer is a old, so it can't manage it. So, I go through the story a time, hoping against hope that it's the last time, and reformat it . And then I proofread it, post it, and discover the million-and-one things that I screwed up on but didn't notice until the whole process was through and would have to be mostly repeated to fix. It's up there on my Top Ten Fun Things To Do List, right below rolling nude on a thumb-tack covered floor. 

Sorry, I think I inhaled too many paint fumes at work today. I'm feeling very irritable and uncomfortable, and my head hurts. I need some caffeine. I need a Mountain Dew.

Anyway, long chapter ahead. I'm gonna set the plot in this chap, so study it carefully. There's a lot of important stuff hidden in this one.

Well, this here's TJ's present. Gather 'round, y'all, an' y'all listen up to Uncle Tony, we's gonna pry inta other peoples personal lives! Ain't it fun!

Enjoy!(and review, PLZ review!)

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, Houenn, May, or any derivitave thereof. I do own my character TJ, and I own his method of arrival (unless God wishes to take credit).

Note: "Speaking"  
_Thinking  
_Pokéspeak  
Psychic conversations  
**Flashbacks  
**SHOUTING!

"Speaking"PokéspeakSHOUTING!

Chapter Three:  
The Morning After

May yawned and stretched her arms. The large T-shirt and baggy sweatpants that TJ had lent her were warm, and the couch felt comfortable and inviting. It was morning, but still early, and May couldn't imagine what had woken her. She was just about to fall back asleep when a commotion from the kitchen brought her fully awake.

"TORCHIC! HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU--WAIT UNTIL IT'S READY!"

"TOR! CHICK TOR TOR CHICTOR! CHI TORCHITO!"

Torchic was standing on the kitchen counter glaring at TJ, who was cooking something on the stove and glaring right back.

"AW, GEE, THAT'S REALLY SAD! IF I HAD KNOWN YOUR STOMACH WAS IN SUCH A STATE, I WOULD HAVE MAGICALLY WHIPPED UP SOME FOOD! AFTER ALL, I'M THE MAGIC HUMAN, AREN'T I!"

"CHICK! TOR CHI TO CHITORCHICK!"

Sitting up, May noticed Treecko leaning unconcernedly against the wall, and Mudkip staring embarrassedly at the floor. Neither seemed upset by the fight, so May figured it was a common occurrence around breakfast time.

Mudkip cleared its throat, looking a bit nervous. "Kip mudkip," it muttered quietly. "Kipkip mukip kimudkip, mudkip mu-"

"CHICTORHIC!" Torchic interrupted, turning on the poor little creature, "CHICKCHICK TORCHICK TOR! CHI TOR CHICKTOR, CHICKCHICK-"

"DON'T YOU _DARE_ YELL AT YOUR BROTHER, YOUNG MAN!" interrupted TJ. "YOU'RE DAMN LUCKY THEY DO PUT UP WITH YOUR STUPID HIJINKS AS IT IS! IF YOU WANT BREAKFAST EARLY THEN _YOU_ MAKE IT FROM NOW ON! AND BEHAVE YOURSELF THIS MORNING, BECAUSE WE HAVE A GUEST! THIS CONVERSATION IS NOW CLOSED!"

Torchic huffed, puffed up its feathers, and hopped off the counter. TJ went back to cooking, looking somewhat angry. Mudkip hunched up, staring at the floor uncomfortably. Treecko did nothing.

All of a sudden the absurdity of the situation hit May like a ton of bricks. Between TJ treating Torchic like an annoying little brother, and Torchic treating TJ like an exasperating older brother, the humor of the situation just overwhelmed her. May burst out laughing.

TJ spun around so fast May thought he was going to fall. Torchic hopped up on the counter again, goggling its eyes at her. Mudkip turned a deep shade of purple, and stared so hard at the floor that May thought he would burn a hole through it, and even Treecko shifted uncomfortably along the wall.

"Uhm, how much of that did you see?" asked TJ. He had turned crimson again, and his eyes were shifting everywhere. He was also rubbing the back of his neck self-conciously, and May found this very endearing for some reason. Her heart flipped over twice, but she managed to ignore it.

"All of it," she said, suppressing her giggles.

"Oh."

May giggled a bit. Everyone else seemed frozen with embarrassment. TJ cleared his throat and shot a look at Torchic. "Sorry you had to see that. We were trying to keep it quiet and let you sleep, but _someone_," he looked expressively at Torchic, "decided that he couldn't wait fifteen more minutes for breakfast. We promise that you won't have to see anything so impolite again, as long as you're here. Everyone is really sorry, and I'm _sure_," and he glanced expressively at Torchic again, "that they'll all want to tell you so-" Overcome by fits of giggles, May waved her hand to make TJ stop speaking.

"Look, it's all right, really it is. I don't mind waking up right now, and I thought it was really cute the way you two fought, and besides, it's nice to see you getting angry and fighting. It makes you seem less like an angel, more like a human."

"Oh. Um, all right then. I guess we're off the hook, huh?"

May giggled again. "You were never on the hook to begin with!"

"Hmm. Well, that's nice to hear. Don't think this gets you out of the doghouse," said TJ, turning to Torchic. "You need to behave yourself better in the morning. What's gonna happen when we leave, huh? How're you gonna cope with having to sleep outside, and wait for a fire to get going, and eat camping food? You better toughen up, or I'll leave you home!"

At this last comment, Torchic's eyes had doubled in size, and he had dashed over in front of TJ, gotten down on his knees, and started unmistakably begging him. "Tor chic torchic tor! Tor tor chic chick! Tor-"

"All right, all right already. I didn't mean it! I'm not going to leave you behind--but you could use a bit of toughening up. You keep that in mind, 'kay?"

Torchic nodded violently. TJ smiled and said, "all right, off with you then. Let me finish cooking--or aren't you still hungry?"

"TOR!" Torchic moved so quickly he seemed to dissapear. TJ chuckled, then turned back to the stove.

Now that it was light out and May was feeling all right, she could get a good look at TJ. She smiled asnd shook her head at herself for thinking he was an angel, but she could still see it, a bit. TJ's hair was very long, down to his shoulders. It looked like he had somewhat curly hair that he had tried to grow into a ponytail, but it was just barely too curly and had ended up looking like a cross between a hippie's hairstyle and a bush. She had thought him tall and mature, but now that she could see clearly he was average height, in fact she doubted if there was more than an inch of difference between the two of them, and he couldn't be older than 21. He was very strong-looking, although May was willing to bet he wasn't quite as strong as he appeared, and his face did seem to have a sort of, oh, _angelic_ quality to it. May couldn't quite put her finger on it. It might have been the gentle expression he always-well, usually-had on, or maybe it was the feminine roundness and softness. His hands however completely dispelled the sense of holy perfection. One had only to glance at them to feel disdainful, because they were covered in dirt. Here and there splotches of dried paint appeared sporadically. His voice was pleasant enough, definitely a tenor, and a decent singer to boot as he began quietly singing over the sound of cooking eggs. He looked up, and May noticed that he had beautiful hazel-colored eyes. She was entranced by those eyes, she felt drawn to them, as if they were pools that she could fall into forever. She felt safe and happy for some reason. She wished that he would never look away.

"A_hem_."

May gasped, and now it was her turn to blush. TJ was staring at her poinedly, knowingly, and he smiled a bit. _What the hell,_ May thought, _I've already embarrassed myself, why not look again? It's not like he's going to say something about it, is it?_

And so May gazed once more into TJ's eyes. TJ locked gazes with her, and May felt a force, a push, a shock, _something_, pass between the two of them. She inhaled sharply, and tried to swallow, but her throat was completely dry. She turned away; her heart was beating so hard she thought it would leap out of her throat. She could hear TJ breathing hard in the kitchen.

_What the hell_, May thought, _what the HELL is going on! I've just met this guy and I'm acting like I've got a massive crush on him! This can't be! I'm crazy! C'mon May, pull yourself together and think straight! Okay, so he's kind of cute, and incredibly nice, and pretty much perfect in every way--stop it! Snap out of it, girl! and stop blushing too! This is CRAZY, remember! Do you want another Ash all over again?_

This last thought sobered her a little, enough so that she was able to regain a bit of her composure. She was afraid to look at TJ, lest she lose what little she had, but she could hear that he had stopped breathing so hard. Everyone sat quietly for several minutes.

"Uhmm, I, I mean, the kitchen, and breakfast, and I should finish cooking..."

"Yeah, I should, well, I'm kinda dirty, maybe I could, I mean, if it's okay, I should shower..."

"Um, right. Up the stairs, second door on the left."

"Yeah, um, thanks."

The awkward moment ended, and May headed upstairs to take a shower. As she started the water, she heard TJ and Torchic start shouting at eachother again. Shaking her head ruefully, she got in the shower.

OOOOOOOO

May came down dressed in a T-shirt and some shorts that TJ had given her to wear until she went home. There were five plates on the table, a pitcher of orange juice, some salsa in a plastic jug, and two large bowls containing eggs and ground beef. It all smelled delicious. May inhaled the aroma apreciatively, and said, "hey! I thought you told me you couldn't cook!"

"Mexican is the one exception," said TJ. "I can't cook anything else, but I make some mean nachos, and my burritos are to die for."

May looked at him quizically. "What's 'Mexican'?"

TJ stared at her openmouthed, at a loss for words. "Ah, uhmm, it's, well, err, it's...a private name! Yeah, a private name, just my own little nickname. Pay no attention to it."

May shrugged. "Okay." She piled some eggs onto her plate, heaped some meat on them, and poured liberal amounts of salsa on all of it. She was mildly surprised to see TJ do the same thing after her-most people didn't like food as spicy as her. She took a bite. "Mmmm! If it was Orre-style why didn't you just say so! It tastes great!"

May was focused on her food, so she didn't see the looks of confusion, understanding and worry that appeared on TJ's face.

They ate mostly in silence. It was mostly because all three pokemon were allowed to eat at the table, and only Treecko had the ability to use silverware. If may hadn't been so hungry she would have witnessed a hilarious sscene as Torchic and Mudkip wolfed down their food, faces buried in their plates. It gave a whole new meaning to the term "table ettiquete".

Finally everyone finished. Torchic and Mudkip were polite enough to wipe their faces on their napkins, an involved process that May found amusing. Everyone was sitting at the table still, all of them full but so content that no one wanted to move much. Mudkip lazily got up off his chair and wandered over to May, nudging her leg. Smiling, May picked him up and set him on her lap, where he sat as she stroked him.

"You know," she said, "these guys are all pretty rare. And they're fairly well trained for the level they're at. Where'd you get them? Theyre impressive."

TJ smiled. "Well, I kinda have this thing going with Professor Birch, you know, just general Kennel Tech stuff, clean the cages, feed the critters, take out the trash, gofer work. These three were sittin' around in his Section Seventeen Laboratory, and I talked him into lettin' me have 'em."

A passing stranger would have thought that TJ had just used a joybuzzer on May's ass. She jumped up so fast she knocked over her chair. Mudkip went flying as she scrambled away backwards.

TJ had stood almost as quickly as she had. He looked a bit angry, but he was controlling it. "What's the matter?" he asked.

May was breathing heavily, and her eyes were still on Mudkip. He had gotten up unsteadily, and was now looking at her with a hurt expression on his face. May risked a quick glance at TJ. "What's wrong?" she said hysterically, "why, nothing! Nothing at all! I'm in a house with three extremely dangerous pokémon and you're asking me why I'm acting so-"

"Hey!" TJ cut her off. "There is _nothing_ wrong with my pokémon! They wouldn't harm a fly outside of battle, and Mudkip was nice enough to come over and try and cuddle with you. He doesn't do that for _anyone_ except me! He obviously likes you a whole lot! What you just did was unbelievably mean!"

"TJ, open your eyes!" said May in the same hysterical tone. "Do you even know what Setion Seventeen _is?_"

"Yeah, it's an enforced retirement home for pokémon who don't want to stop fighting but are too old to continue, and are considered a danger to themselves and others!"

"Yeah, that's half of it, but it's _also_ the nearest secure pokémon storage facility for most of the area! It's the place where they stick pokémon that are considered dangerous, maybe even _lethal_, to humans and other pokémon!"

"Do my guys look dangerous to you!"

"Well, they don't look like retirees!"

"What's that supposed to mean!"

May shook her head. "You're crazy! Those three are gonna kill you in your sleep one day!"

"There's _nothing_ wrong with them! They're harmless!"

"You're crazy," May said again, more calmly this time. "And I'm leaving. Bye!"

She stood up and headed for the front door. She actually had her hand on the handle when TJ grabbed her shoulder. She spun around, hand upraised to slap him, but he caught it with his arm, then shook her, hard.

"May! Please! Listen to me!"

May snorted derisively. "Why? You're crazy!"

"May," said TJ, and she paused at the look on his face. He had a tired, sad look on, one that spoke of many previous fights. He spoke softly, sadly. "May, They're harmless. _Trust_ me, they are _not_ a danger to humans, or other pokémon."

May softened a bit at his words. She looked at him, feeling another thrill of something as she did. "TJ, how can you say that? You know where they're from, you know why they were there, how can you possibly know whether or not they're dangerous?"

TJ swallowed. "Just...trust me, May. I know them. I know who they are, inside. If I say they're harmless, they are."

May looked at him skeptically. TJ looked up and said, "You believe me, don't you?"

She gave him a hard look. His face fell, like his world had ended. May sighed and loked at him sadly. "I _want_ to TJ, I _really_ do. But how can I?"

TJ looked up and stared straight into her eyes. Unlike before, there was no warm feeling; May felt as if he was staring straight into her soul and sifting what he found there. Finally, he said, "what if I could prove it?"

May sighed deeply. "How? _How_, TJ?"

TJ sighed. He ran his hand through his hair and motioned towards the couch she had slept on. "Sit down, this is gonna take a while. You might as well be comfortable. You don't have to sit near my pokémon if you don't want to!" he said, correctly interpreting her hesitation.

May deliberated. _Oh well, in for a penny in for a pound._ May sat.

TJ ast on the other couch across from her. His pokémon joined him there, and he held his face in his hands for several minutes. Just when May was considering telling him to get on with it, he said, "I guess this all starts with how I hate my life."

A/N: Eeeeeeeekk! A cliffie! Isn't this fun! Tune in next time for TJ's past! In Technicolor! It's good! Oh, and it's part one of three. PLZ PLZ PLZ review!


	4. I Hate My Life!

**A/N:**Haha, I got four, read 'em FOUR reviews! I LO-

Ah, I mean I LIKE you guys! I really really LIKE you guys! You rock! You're the best!

Thanks for all the tech advice, but it won't help. Why? 'Cause I'm writing on my family's computer. My family are mostly technono's. Want an example? My mother once de-programmed a microwave.

How do you _de-program_ a _microwave_? They don't have any complicated gizmos like CD's or fancy processes like surfing the web, you just push the button and BAM! It's working! She must be gifted.

Anyway, my computer woes have come to an end. I simply uploaded my first chapter again...and again...and again until I had enough to last me a week. Then I simply cut, paste, edit, and post. YAY! Okay, I've got all the hyperness out of my system. No, wait, there's still a little bit left. Hang on.

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

Okay, all gone. Thank you so much for reviewing guys, I'm expecting a lot more reviews soon but you two will always be special. Little Rabbit f/LRPLI, you rock. I'm glad to hear that you like TJ, I'm sure as soon as he gets up off his lazy ass he'll thank you too. oOo Breezy oOo, I'd really like you to visit my bio page. I know it's a lot of bull to wade through, but I left something special for you at the bottom. I guess you don't _have_ to read the junk before it, but it would be nice.

Thank you all so much for taking the time to read this. You're making one of my biggest dreams come true. Thanks again.

Enjoy! Read and Review!

P.S. This whole chapter, and a few after it, are flashbacks. Thusly, they are in bold. However, some normal writing may appear. This is to remind everyone that while they are being told a story, so is May. The normal writing is her comments and TJ's answers.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, Houenn, May, or any derivitave thereof. I do own my character TJ, and I own his method of arrival (unless God wishes to take credit).

**Note:  
**"Speaking"  
_Thinking  
_Pokéspeak  
Psychic conversations  
**Flashbacks  
**SHOUTING

Chapter Four:

I Hate My Life!

Place: a little podunk western town that you don't know and don't _want_ to know.

Time: midafternoon. Huh? Oh, right. It's stardate...I mean it's a few months before TJ and May meet.

_I hate my life._

Terrence J. Kane sat at the table with his eyes closed. He really didn't want to open them, because he knew what he would see, but-

"Your first name is _Terrence_?"

"You wanna hear my story or you wanna chat?"

"Sorry."

Anyway, he really didn't want to open his eyes. He really didn't want to be sitting at that very table anyway; he wished he was back home, in front of the TV playing Pokémon Colosseum. In fact, he wished that he was dangling from a clocktower, because that would be better than opening his eyes. He didn't want to face the menacing fool who was bothering him.

A quote from one of his favorite Star Trek books flashed through his mind: "Hope is illogical. Life is about dealing with what _is_."

_That doesn't mean I have to like it, though,_ he thought.

Oh well, might as well get it over with.

"Hey punk, are you going to look at me or do I have to help you?"

Terrence, also known as TJ, sighed. Opening his eyes, he said, "Yes Andrew, I'll look at you. There, you happy? I've seen your ugly mug. Now go away." TJ closed his eyes in an unconcerned fashion.

Andrew growled, then grabbed the front of TJ's shirt. Mentally, TJ sighed again. _I could have been a bit more polite,_ he mused, _but then again whether I was polite or not Andrew still would have done the same thing. If I'm going to get slapped stupid, I at least like to deserve it._

Andrew would have proceeded to prove TJ prophetic, but as Heaven would have it, he didn't get the chance.

"TJ! Are you fighting with Andrew again!"

Any sane human would have found the previous statement absurd. Here was this short wiry kid being held up by a gorilla with a buzzcut, and he was asking him if he was fighting with him. In all honesty, the speaker, a Mr. Rathbane, was sane, mostly. He just had a blind spot a mile wide when it came to his son.

"No Mr. Rathbane," replied TJ, "Andrew was just showing me his latest Judo technique."

Andrew growled quietly. If looks could kill, TJ would have been KFC right then. TJ just smiled neutrally back. Andrew could get away with just about anything in his father's store, but not even he could start and sustain a fight without catching hell for it. At the moment his hands were tied.

"Oh, okay then. You boys play nice."

Mr. Rathbane turned to leave. TJ saw his opening. Grabbing the rest of his sandwich he followed Mr. Rathbane out the door and into the public part of the store. Stuffing his sandwich into his mouth, TJ proceeded to the paint counter. He put away the "Back in a Half Hour" sign and put on his vest. TJ worked at a store called "Style me Yours", a local little hardware shop in his town. The store was owned and operated by Mr. Rathbane, and besides himself had only two other employees, TJ and his son Andrew.

TJ smiled a big fake smile as Andrew sauntered out of the breakroom. He headed back up to the cash register and opened back up his till. TJ waited until no one else was looking, then stuck out his tongue at Andrew's back. The gesture was childish, but it relieved some stress.

Mumbling bitter curses under his breath, TJ went about turning on all the paint mixing machines. He supposed he should be more chipper, as he really was lucky to have the job. His little town was a community of close knit families, some having been there back almost 150 years. They were jealous, the townies, and suspicious. And horrible gossips. When TJ and his family had moved there on his seventeenth birthday, some three years previous, there had been an uproar over the "lazy freak from the city".

His brothers had gotten off easy. One was a natural-born athlete, able to play just about any game involving a ball. The other was friendly and good natured, a natural cool guy. His parents also got by fairly easily. His father was personable and charming, as well as a good hand at business matters. His mother was kind and compassionate, and her cooking was excellent. Food went a long way in that town.

That left him. TJ had never been a "people" person. He lacked the necessary skills to chill out with kids his age. A multitude of bad experiences at his old schools had left him withdrawn and shy, preferring to be antisocial and play with his video games. The masses at the high school had branded him as weird within three days. Those precious few who took the time to get to know him kept their relationship secret, unless they were just as unpopular in which case it didn't matter.

It was a pity, really. TJ was actually a nice guy. An amazingly creative brain resided behind those impassive eyes; TJ saw solutions where others saw problems. If ever there was a group project to be done in school, everyone had wanted to be on TJ's group. TJ was also kind. He liked to laugh, he was mature for his age, and he was happiest when making others happy. Whenever others would tease him about his love of video games, he would reply, "Hey, I'm not knocking it up, getting drunk off of it, or rolling it up and smoking it. I'd say I'm ahead of the game."

"Gee, you don't think you're biased a bit, do you?"

"A_HEM!_"

"Sorry. Continue."

**TJ sighed. As you may have guessed, he did that a lot. When TJ had graduated high school, it had been with a 3.89 average, much better than the local football jock. He had expected that summer jobs would be plenty and profitable. After all, he was young, smart, hardworking, and earnest. No parent would be stupid enough to listen to the petty concerns of their _teenager_, would they? Right? Right? **

Wrong.

It turned out that unlike the rest of the world, people in _this_ town never matured past seventeen. Week after week he went out to the different businesses around town and tried to convince them to hire him. All the owners, and managers, and even most of the employees never bothered to ask him questions. They all simply said, "we're sorry, we're not hiring right now. Please try again at a later date." One girl said this moments before handing out an application to another teenager, and then looked straight at TJ, her eyes daring him to complain. TJ sighed, not even sure how the girl knew who he was.

Mr Rathbane was no different from all the rest. When TJ first applied to his store, he simply explained that he had all the help he needed. That would have been the end of it, but it seemed that Heaven had some divine intervention planned.

Mr. Ratbane's dislike of TJ did not extend to TJ's father, Harry, who was in the Rotary with him. Harry and Mr. Rathbane got along splendidly, having many of the same interests. Though Mr. Rathbane had told TJ that he had all the help he needed, the truth of the matter was he needed someone who knew how to mix paint better than his son. He chatted with Harry about this at a rotary meeting one night.

Normally Harry would not have said anything. He liked Mr. Rathbane, and respected his decision not to hire TJ. He loved TJ, but he was worried about his antisocial behavior and felt that a lack of funds would encourage him to change it. However, a life lesson was one thing, but when his friend allowed his predjudices to affect his judgement on his son, it was time for a little behind-the-scenes dad action. And besides...

"Well, why don't you just hire my son Terry!" said Harry, chuckling.

Mr. Rathbane squirmed uncomfortably. He had, in fact, allowed his predjudices to cloud his judgement, and he felt that his son was right in calling TJ a "weird freak! He doesn't belong in this town!" However, as much as he didn't like his perception of TJ, Harry was a good friend, the two often went fishing together or watched football at one or the other's house. Mr. Rathbane didn't want to insult his friend.

"Ah, yes," he began, "well, you see, he _did_ come to me and apply for a job. I considered him, but I really need someone who's experienced with paint, and I didn't want to hurt his feelings, so I simply told him I didn't need any help at the moment. I'm sure you understand, business matters and all..."he trailed off.

Harry shook his head and smiled. He knew that his friend was lying to him so that he wouldn't insult him. One look at his son's resumé would have dispelled any of the excuses Mr. Rathbane was now using. Inside, a deep woe was born in his heart. _Is this what my son's life is going to be, until he dies?_ thought Harry. _Oh Lord above,_ he silently prayed, _set my son upon a path away from the woe and sorrow now before him. Guide him to your peace, O Lord._

Harry chuckled. "That's perfect!" he said. "Back in Denver Terry worked at an ACE Hardware, mixing up paint colors. He's got all the experience you want, and more! He's perfect!"

Mr. Rathbane still wasn't sure about TJ. But he didn't want to insult his friend, and he didn't see how he could avoid that without at least looking at TJ's resumé. So he reluctantly called TJ up the next day and asked him to come in.

When TJ arrived, Mr. Rathbane was trying to mix up some paint for a customer. He was having difficulty, as he didn't really understand the machine. Matters were only made worse by his son Andrew, who seemed to think that it just needed to be smacked a few times. Mr. Ratbane was frustrated, his son was frustrated, and the customer was getting impatient.

"Excuse me, Mr. Rathbane! You called me?"

Mr. Rathbane waved at TJ irritably. "Yes yes, I'm busy. Stay there, I'll be over in a minute."

Once again Heaven nudged events a bit. If TJ had stayed, he might have missed out on a miracle, but as providence would have it he felt an urge to go and help.

Mr. Rathbane was really starting to get angry. The machine had been very expensive, the salesman had made it sound like it was the wave of the future. Well, he had been right about that, the paint company was scaling down its pre-mixed program in favor of custom-tinted colors, and the public wanted them. But the machine was so damn complicated!

"Whoa, waitta minute. Here, let me help."

TJ slipped in and deftly manipulated the machine's levers and pumps. Within minutes he had successfully tinted, labeled and mixed the customer's paint. The customer checked out cheerfully and left a two dollar tip at the register.

Mr. Rathbane hired TJ on the spot.

TJ proved to be a valuable employee over the years. At first he had planned on working at the shop only for the summer, but as fall marched onward and college after college told him that his high school record just wasn't good enough to get him accepted (the local colleges were all staffed by, well, _locals_, and his out-of-state applications always _mysteriously_ got eaten by the system), he became more or less a permanent fixture at the shop.

TJ grumbled some more. He missed living in Denver. In Denver it was okay to be a little different. No one had bothered him about the fact that his sense of humor was too dry, or mocked his love of children's books and playing with elementary school aged children. He would move back there if he could. The problem was money. Mr. Rathbane was fair in his wages, but clerk at a hardware store hardly paid enough to rent an apartment in a far-off city. Then there were the fines, fees, mandatory donations, and straight out blackmail that everyone took such joy in hitting him with. Every single shop in town tacked on an extra dollar or two to his purchases. At least his dad had talked with the chief of police at a Rotary meeting; TJ no longer recieved "loitering" tickets every few days, and the tickets he received that were marginally realistic were now processed in a speedy manner. One night in the local jail had been enough for him. Added all together, living in the town was too expensive for TJ to move out on his own. He was well and truly screwed.

OOOOOOOO

**TJ stumbled home later that evening. He quickly went upstairs to his room and turned on the TV. Normally his parents would be bugging him about doing something useful instead of wasting time with his games, but his whole family was gone for the week, and he was house-sitting. TJ popped in Colosseum and quickly became involved in playing. **

"Come on you mother$&#! That was cheap! Oh yeah? Take that! Yeah, how's that water boys! Ya thirsty! Drink up! Hahahahahahahahaha!"

TJ looked up at the clock. It read 10:31 PM. "Shit! I have to open tomorrow! Dammit! This is your fault," he hissed at the Gamecube.

TJ got into bed. As he was drifting off he uttered his standard nightly prayer...

TJ stopped talking. May leaned forward, concerned. TJ's eyes were clearly full of tears, and his throat seemed to be swollen shut. "Are you all right?" she asked.

TJ sniffed, and several tears ran down his face. "Yeah," he said in a low, scratchy voice. "It's just hard to talk about, you know? Give me a minute, I'll be all right."

May sat silently while TJ struggled with his grief. A minute turned into five, then ten, then fifteen, and then he sat up, wiped his eyes, took a deep breath, and said, "okay, I'm ready."

**"Lord please wake me in a better place," prayed TJ. He didn't care if it was Denver, another town, or Heaven. He was willing to die to get away from this place.**

OOOOOOOO

TJ was dreaming. He was on a vast plain, it was barren and teeming with life at the same time. Far off in the distance something shot up into the clouds. TJ was curious. He wanted to find out what was over there. He started walking. After a few minutes he picked up speed. He started to jog. Eventually he was sprinting all out, and not getting tired. He really wanted to find out what that thing was. Finally he reached it. It was a strange shape, bumpy and wrinkled. It was huge, much bigger than TJ. It was mostly flesh tones, although here and there a bit of earth tone appeared. TJ stared at it perplexed. It didn't look like a mountain. In fact, it looked like nothing more than a pair of giant feet, shooting up past the clouds to the top of some gigantic creature. But that couldn't be right, nothing was that big. Was it?

TJ was proven wrong when the clouds parted to reveal some sort of immense... _being_. TJ had no idea what it was, but it was huge, so big that he couldn't even see its hips, and he thought that it was looking at him. He sensed a love so pure it hurt emanating from the creature, as well as a righteous fury. Wait a minute, how was that possible? He was losing it! The stress had finally gotten to him! He was cracking up!

"TERRENCE."

The creature spoke, and it was like a wave of force. TJ was overwhelmed by the force of the being's words, and wanted nothing more than to hide.

"TERRENCE."

It was just as scary as before, but something in TJ stirred. Something strange, and unfamiliar.

"Uhm, my name's TJ, sir."

"TERRENCE..."

"No, it's TJ!"

"_TERRENCE!_"

The world was ending. TJ cowered, unable to face the fury of those words.

"TJ."

The force was still there, but this time it was tempered with a love so sweet TJ didn't know what to do. Finally he said, "Yes? I'm here."

"TJ," said the force with yet more love, "I KNOW YOUR PLIGHT. KNOW THIS MY SON, EVERYTHING THAT YOU HAVE SUFFERED YOU HAVE SUFFERED THAT YOU MAY GROW STRONGER. YOU HAVE OVERCOME OBSTACLES THAT MOST OF YOUR KIND WOULD BLANCH AT, AND GREATER OBSTACLES STILL. YOU HAVE GROWN INTO A MAN AFTER MY OWN HEART."

"Waitta minute," said TJ, "who're you? Are you some sort of manifestation of my psychosexual mind from my subconcious? Or am I just nuts?"

The force was silent for a moment. Then it said, "I AM GOD."

TJ snorted.

"DO YOU DOUBT ME?" roared the force.

TJ was terrified, but he bravely forged onward. "Don't get me wrong, it's just that, I kinda, you know, pictured god a bit differently, you know?"

"LIKE THIS?"

Something appeared to TJ's left. Warily, he walked over to inspect it. It was a statue, a fairly recent one done in an old style. It took TJ a moment to recognize it, but he suddenly realized it was the "Buddy Jesus". His face burned as he realized that really was about how he viewed God, and he-

"Hold up, 'Buddy Jesus'?"

"Err, it's from a movie I _know _you haven't seen, so don't worry about it, okay? It's not important to the story."

"Oh. Okay."

**TJ's face burned in shame. Suddenly, he gasped. One of two possibilities could be occurring right now. The first, that he was losing his mind, was incredibly unlikely. The second, that he was actually conversing with _God_, simply was too big to comprehend. **

"TJ."

TJ looked up again. He couldn't see it, but for some reason he was sure God was smiling at him. "Yes Lord?"

"I HAVE NOT COME TO CONVICT YOU OF YOUR SINS. THAT CAN BE ACHIEVED AT ANOTHER TIME. I HAVE COME INSTEAD TO YOU AS THE BEARER OF GOOD NEWS. YOU HAVE STRIVEN LONG AND HARD IN THIS WORLD, AND GROWN INTO AN UPRIGHT YOUNG MAN, FOR THE MOST PART. THEREFOR, I HAVE DECIDED TO MOVE YOU TO YOUR NEW HOME. IT WILL HAPPEN AS SOON AS I LEAVE. BE BLESSED, MY SON, AND BLESS OTHERS WITH THE GOOD NEWS. I SHALL BE WATCHING OVER YOU.

And with that, God left. He didn't walk away, he simply was no longer where he had been. TJ had time to drowsily think, _oh God, if only it were true_...

And then he was out like a light, traveling to parts unknown.

A/N:Whew, a _really _long one this time. Okay, there should be two more chapters on his past after this, then he straightens some things out with May and he's on his way! Exciting, no? The next chapter should be fairly long, we have a whole 'nother life to cover, and it'll be a flashback still. Stay tuned and find out just how many different ways you can hate someone else's life! Until next time, Ciao!


	5. I Hate Your Life Too!

**A/N:** Wassup! More and more people are checking out my fic-I'm so happy You guys have no idea how long I've wanted to share my work with others, you're making one of my greatest dreams come true. I want to thank all of you. oOo Breezy oOo, you made my day when I saw your name on the review list. Little Rabbit f/LRPLI, your advice and commiseration, as well as your endorsement of TJ, helped me immensely. Unfortunately, the endorsement went to TJ's head, and he's refusing to come out of his dressing room and do the chapter. But I'll work something out. Prima Donnas! Lunar Sphinx, your story was one of the first I ever read on this site. I was surprised to see you reviewing this story, but gratified all the same. And Liz, you know what I have to say to you, but I'll say it anyway: You're my best friend, my favorite editor, and the only person who's willing to read a story based on a game she knows nothing about. You rock.

Anyway, time for TJ to discover that whatever world you live in, life is life. As in hard. But he's about to change all that, because life is also what you make of it. Read and Review is required, enjoyment is optional.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, Houenn, May, or any derivitave thereof. I do own my character TJ.

Note: "Speaking"  
_Thinking  
_Pokéspeak  
Psychic conversations  
**Flashbacks  
**SHOUTING

"Speaking"PokéspeakSHOUTING

Chapter Five:

I Hate Your Life Too!

Place: A little podunk mountain town that most of you will be familiar with.

Time: The next morning after TJ's talk with God, duh!

"Uggghhh! Wh ty i I? Wha ta hel? SHI! I'n lade!"

TJ groaned in agony, he was _definitely_ not a morning person. His clock read 6:15. The hardware store opened at 7. He was so screwed. He had just enough time to shower and sprint to his job. If he was lucky.

He sat up in his bed. In a rush his experience from last night came back to him-his conversation with God, God's promise, his headache.

_Wow_, he thought, _what a weird dream. I wonder what it meant? _He shrugged. _Oh well, probably just a sign of suppressed_ _sexual tension or something._He started rooting around on his floor, looking for a clean outfit.

Or was it his floor? TJ quickly scanned the clothes lying on the floor, then glanced around the rest of the room. It was his room all right, he just felt that it wasn't _his_ room. It wasn't like there were any big glaring differences to notice, but slowly TJ began to see little things. His clock was definitely a red digital, not a green. He hadn't remembered leaving his clothes there the night before. His Gamecube should be downstairs, not up here. He shouldn't have a life-sized poster of a Charizard hanging on his door. His sock drawer should be-

Hold up. Life-sized Charizard poster? What the HELL?

Slowly, as if he was afraid that it would disappear, TJ turned around to look at his door. Yup, there was a life-sized Charizard poster tacked up to it. Furthermore, it wasn't one of those cutesy crappy cartoon Charizards, it was large, mean, and _very_ real looking.

TJ's jaw dropped. Now, in his defense, he was not, as I had already mentioned, a morning person. It would be completely understandable that he wouldn't notice a relatively small change like that without a can of Mountain Dew or a cup of coffee-

"Gee, you're being awfully defensive!"

"Well, sue me! I'm _not_ a morning person, I need a can of Mountain Dew!"

"Uh huh. What's 'Mountain Dew'?"

"You don't have it. I switched to Onix Breeze instead."

"That's like 'Mountain Dew'?"

"No, it tastes worse. Now shut up and listen."

"Geez, sor-ry!"

**Anyway, TJ was floored. He simply couldn't deal with the fact that God had plucked him up from his home and put him into his dream. He needed proof. So, he ran, I mean jogged, oh fine, he stumbled to his window and yanked up the shade to get a better look. **

The first thing he noticed was pine trees. He was definitely not in his room then, because he lived in a valley. The second thing he noticed was the large flock of Taillow sitting in the branches.

TJ slammed the shade shut. He pinched himself. He kicked himself. He slapped himself in the face. Then he opened the shade again. The Taillow were still there.

"No way," he said, "no fuckin' way!"

"TJ! Are you up yet? You're going to be late!"

It was Mary! It was his mother! His mother was here! She had been sucked in too!

TJ ran to the door, flung it open, and dashed downstairs. On the way down it registered in his mind that he didn't even _have_ stairs in his house, but that fact could only play second fiddle to the flock of Taillow sitting outside his window. He dashed into the kitchen. It was nice to see something still the same, even if all the wall border had Spearow instead of chickens.

"TJ! What are you doing! You need to shower if you're going to make it to work on time!" cried his mother.

"Mom!" TJ cried right back. "What's happening? Have aliens come? Are we in a computer? What happened!"

"What are you talking about?" asked his mother. She looked at her son with concern.

"When I woke up this morning, there was a flock of Taillow outside my window! _Taillow_, Mom!"

TJ realized that his mother knew nothing about the "infernal machines", as she liked to call his video games. He was about to explain what a Taillow was when his mother said, "TJ, those Taillow have been roosting outside your window for the past three years! Are you sure you're all right? Maybe you should call in sick or something."

If TJ had thought his jaw dropped low at seeing the Taillow, it was _nothing_ compared to hearing his mother talk about them like an everyday occurrence. For years afterwards he would be able to clearly recall the concerned look on her face as she questioned him about his health, casually mentioning creatures that had, until today, been nothing more than fiction.

"I think you really _should_ call in sick, sweetie," she said in a worried voice. "Why don't you call the pokémart and let them know you're not feeling well today?"

TJ stared. Pokémart? He worked at a pokémart? Since when?

"Well, are you going to call them?"

"Huh? Oh, uh, sure. Um, what was their number, again?"

His mother shot a very concerned look at him, then said, "that's all right dear, I'll call them for you. You just go back upstairs and rest."

TJ just nodded.

OOOOOOOO

Back in his room, TJ lay on his bed, staring at nothing. Thoughts raced around and around in his head, moving too quickly to grab ahold of. Outside, the Taillow were beginning to chirp. TJ moved his head a fraction to stare at his window shade.

No way. No way in hell.

But then, how did he explain this? He didn't take drugs, he didn't drink, he didn't (or_ hadn't_) ever hallucinated randomly before, and he always could tell when he was asleep and when he was awake.

_Unless_, an unpleasant jolt of fear shot through his stomach, _unless I'm awake _now_, and my memories are really just an incredibly realistic dream._

TJ felt like his insides had dropped out. Was that it? Had he dreamt his little town, and the abuse, and Andy, and all that? Was this reality, and his memories just fiction?

But his memories didn't _feel _like a dream. They felt _real_. He was sure they were real. But how could he be sure? He was so confused!

"Oh, God," he moaned, "give me a sign! Show me that I'm not crazy! SHOW ME!"

TJ suddenly noticed a sharp pain in his left pocket. Having gone to bed so late last night, he had slept in his clothes. He reached in, and pulled out a small red square of plastic, with a little blue rectangle nestled within. He also held a small red rectangle. They were his Gameboy and Pokémon Ruby and Sappire versions.

_Thank you,_ thought TJ, _thank you God._

OOOOOOOO

TJ's mind was racing even faster now. He had been sitting in his room for the past four hours, quietly listing and explaining his situation to himself. He felt like he was getting nowhere.

"All right," he said to himself sternly, "Just list the facts as they are for now."

"One, that I have been taken to another world by God."

"Two, this is very real, and not a dream."

"Three, this world has at least two kinds of pokémon, probably more."

"Four, I had a counterpart in this world who must have switched places with me. He had a life, and a job, when he was here."

"Five, it is safe to assume that he hated being here as much as I hated my home."

TJ sighed deeply. "But where does that leave _me_?" he asked.

What TJ needed, what TJ desperately wanted, was someone to help him, clue him in, give him information. He needed a teacher.

But who? Not either of his parents, no way. He could have asked one of his few friends, but he wasn't even sure they existed in this world. He could ask his ultra-cool younger brother, but he was sure Thomas would just laugh at him. Who else was there? Besides the baby of the family, Trevor, there was no one who would even talk to-

Wait! That was it! Ask Trevor!

Trevor was nine, almost ten. But from the way he acted, you would think he was twenty-seven. He had kissed his first girl at the age of three. He had had his first girlfriend at the age of seven. He had gotten his first hickey just this past spring, although his parents knew nothing about that.

Trevor was a ladies man, clean and simple. He was also a killer athlete, and he was very good looking for a near ten-year-old. He was the kind of person who normally would ignore TJ, or treat him like dirt, but providence had intervened at birth.

When Trevor had been born, TJ had still been called Terry and he was only nine-and-a-half. Thomas was only seven. Thomas had been completely uninterested in the wrinkled little ball of flesh, but Terry had felt an instant attraction to him. One look and he wanted to play with him forever.

Over the years, TJ had slowly drifted away from his happy-go-lucky childhood and into his burden filled adolescence, and sorrow filled adulthood. Trevor had shined from the moment he had been old enough to walk. He was the golden boy of almost every school he went to. Teachers had told his parents that he would someday be a great athlete. He had friends out the yin-yang, but none as cool as his older brother TJ. Unlike Thomas and the other big kids, TJ hung out with him. He took him places, had lunch with him, played catch with him, talked about video games with him, and did all sorts of cool stuff with him. Over the years Trevor had realized that far from being cool, TJ was a massive dork. But Trevor stood loyally by his brother, defending his meager reputation in front of his peers. TJ was one of Trevor's best friends, and vice versa.

TJ carefully opened his door a crack. Peering down the hall, he could see Trevor sitting in his room reading. Thomas was showering, and his mother was cleaning downstairs. His father was at work.

Moving quickly and silently, TJ dashed into Trevor and Thomas's room and grabbed Trevor. He snaked one hand around Trevor's waist and the other he placed over his mouth. Silently he thanked God that Trevor was still small enough that he could pick him up and carry him. Trevor let out a muffled "what the-" and then TJ was in his room.

"HEY!" shouted Trevor, "what the HECK do you think you're-"

TJ grabbed Trevor by his shirt and hissed, "look, Mom and Dad think that I'm sick. I'm supposed to be in my room resting, so that I get better. If there are loud noises coming out from under my door, someone might get suspicious. You don't want that, do you?"

Trevor shook his head. TJ set him down. Trevor strode over to the bed and sat. "All right dude, what's this all about?"

TJ told him.

Trevor snorted. "Ha ha. Now what's this _really_ all about?"

TJ turned on his Gameboy, and showed it to Trevor.

Trevor shut up.

"Dude," he said, "that's like..."

"Insane?" said TJ. "Crazy? Unbelievable? You're hearing a crazy story from your brother, Trev. I'm _living_ that story. You have no idea what I've had running through my head."

"But, like, if you grew up somewhere where pokémon don't exist, and then woke up here, where's _my_ brother?"

TJ was silent for a moment. "I don't know for sure," he finally said, "but tell me this: was he miserable with his life?"

Trevor snorted. "No, miserable doesn't begin to describe it. He would have jumped off a bridge if it meant he could have left. He hated this place."

"I thought so. I'm not positive, but my theory is that God preformed a switch. I'm now here, and he is now where I was."

"Oh," said Trevor. "I get it." The look on his face said otherwise.

"Just trust me," said TJ, "wherever he is, he's happier."

"But will I ever see him again?"

TJ sighed. "I'm not sure. Only God can answer that one. Pray about it."

Trevor thought about this for a while. "You're _sure_ he's happy?" he said.

"Look, you yourself said he'd jump off a bridge to get away. Well, now he's away. What do you think?"

Trevor thought some more, then nodded. "Okay, I guess I can buy that. So, what do you want to know?"

The brothers chatted and made plans.

OOOOOOOO

"TJ! What are you doing out of bed? You should be resting!"

"Don't worry about it Mom, I feel a lot better. In fact, I think I've recovered completely!"

"I don't think so young man! You march straight back upstairs and into bed this instant!"

"But Mom, I'm fi-"

"No buts! Upstairs!"

TJ took a deep breath, as if steeling himself for something.

"No Mom."

TJ's mother looked at him like he was going crazy. "What did you just say?"

"I said no. Dammit mother, I'm nineteen. Hell, I'll be twenty at the end of the summer! You can't just treat me like a little boy anymore! I'm almost a man!"

"But, but you were acting so strangely this morning! You were pale, and sweaty, and you didn't seem to understand what I was saying!"

"Yeah, well, my life hit me hard all of a sudden. I'm almost twenty and the crowning achievement of my career is a blue vest at the pokémart. That's not good enough for me!"

TJ's mother stared at him like he was an alien from another planet.

"I'm sorry mother, but I'm through with this town. I've got places to go, people to see, and I'm not going to wait any longer. I'm going to see Professor Birch."

And with that, TJ stormed out of the house, intent on finding the Professor's laboratory.

It was a short walk. In less than twenty minutes, TJ found himself at the door of a large building. A sign above it said 'Welcome to Birch Laboratories! Fieldwork Specialists since 1977! Open 9-5'. Squaring his shoulders, TJ went in.

"Hello! Professor! Anybody home?"

TJ's voice echoed inside the large building. A round head with shaggy brown hair popped up from a stack of boxes in the back.

"Who's there! I'm busy right now!"

TJ walked over to where the Professor was sitting. "I promise not to take up your time, I just want to become a trainer."

The Professor stared at him much like his mother had. He looked TJ up and down, then squinted at his face.

"Say, aren't you that Kane boy? The one who hides inside his house? I think I've heard about you from my son."

TJ felt an invisible knife twist in his gut. Still, he tried to remain outwardly calm. "Well, I don't know about 'hides in his house', but I am TJ Kane. I don't know how your son knows me, but I'm not sure he really knows me, if you catch my drift."

Birch sniffed. The knife in TJ's gut twisted harder.

"Yes, well, that may be the case. Just why are you wanting to become a trainer?"

TJ's eyes shined. "I've never wanted to be anything else, sir."

Birch regarded him for a moment. "Then why didn't you apply at ten years old, like most children do?"

The knife was now a jackhammer. TJ swallowed hard and replied, "um, I lived in a big city. My dad didn't want me to go out on the streets and get jumped by a stalker."

"Hmmmm," said Professor Birch. The jackhammer had now become an exploding stick of dynamite; TJ felt like he was going to explode. Or puke.

"Well, I'm truly sorry," said Professor Birch, "but I'm afraid that no one over the age of eighteen is allowed to start as a trainer in this region. Perhaps you might try going to school and getting a job involving pokémon."

The dynamite was gone. Instead there was a big empty spot where his stomach should have been. Looking into Birch's eyes, TJ saw something he was all too familiar with: disdain.

"I understand Sir," he whispered. "Thank you for the advice."

And he turned around, and slowly trudged out. If he had looked back, he would have seen a momentary flicker of regret in Birch's eyes.

OOOOOOOO**"Welcome to your friendly Oldale Pokémart, how can I help you?"**

**It was the next day, and TJ was at work. He had gone home wishing that the earth would open up and swallow him. His mother had been waiting for him just inside the door, but one look at his forlorn face and she had forgotten her anger. She had fixed him up some soup and butter and peanut butter bread. Trevor had come in and offered his condolences, his father had come home and told him that it would go better next time, and even Thomas had offered his support, sort of.**

**"You suck wastewater, but you don't completely suck."**

**TJ had managed a ghost of a smile. That was high praise, coming from Thomas.**

**TJ had only been working at a pokémart for five hours, but already he hated it as much as his job back home. There wasn't really a difference; one sold paint and brushes, the other sold pokéballs and antidotes. The same crappy customers still came through.**

**_Dammit,_ he thought, _I'll get you for this, Birch._**

**Tears started to well up. _But how? It doesn't matter where I am, I'm still a worthless, shiftless, hated bum with no place in the world. How can someone like that do _anything **

**TJ was so deep in thought he didn't notice a large boy about his age stride over to the counter. The register had taken a bit of time to pick up, but it wasn't really that difficult. TJ was running it now.**

**"Hey! I demand service!"**

**TJ snapped his head up. Noticing the boy, he sighed inwardly. _Oh well, always help the customer,_ he thought.**

_**Damn, I wish I weren't so moral all the time.**_

**TJ walked over to the rude boy. "How may I help you sir?"**

**"I want ten great balls, and make it fast! I've been waiting for at least an hour!"**

**TJ's irritation went up a notch. He knew for a fact the boy had walked in just twenty minutes ago. But, he was a customer, so TJ shoved his irritation aside and said, "I'm sorry sir, but this pokémart doesn't sell great balls, only pokéballs. If you want a great ball, you'll have to go to Slateport, it's the nearest location."**

**"I _know_ that they sell them in Slateport, you idiot," snarled the boy, "I'm telling you I want to buy them _here_."**

**TJ was starting to get angry, but he shoved it away again and said, "all right sir, just let me get my boss. He'll special order them for you, and they should be here within two weeks."**

**The rude boy banged his fist down on the counter. "I want them NOW!" he said.**

**TJ wanted nothing more than to rip the boy's words out of the air and ram them down his throat. However, he simply said, "I'm very sorry sir, but I can't get them any faster than that."**

**The rude boy stared at TJ as if he were a particularly repulsive kind of insect. "Do you have _any_ idea who I am?" he asked. "I'm Andy Stone! My Father runs the most powerful organization in all of Houenn! I'll have your job for this, peasant! I'll have you evicted from..."**

**Andy just kept droning on and on. _Why is it,_ wondered TJ, _that all people named Andy are jerks? Is it some sort of genetic connection? Do all humans have the ability to be assholes if they have the right name? _**

**"Are you listening to me!"**

**"Yes sir," said TJ. "I heard every word."**

**"Well then, what are you still doing here?"**

**TJ stared at Andy, confused. "Huh?"**

**"I _knew _it! You weren't listening to a word I said! I just told you to turn in your badge and resign!"**

**TJ stared at Andy incredulously. Of all the rude, nasty, arrogant things to say!  
TJ's anger was reaching a boiling point.**

**"What's going on here!"**

**It was the store manager-TJ couldn't remember his name.**

**Andy immediately launched into his spiel of insults and demands again. The manager's eyes widened when he heard Andy's full name, and he shot TJ a very dirty look.**

**_Dammit_, _that's not fair! I didn't do anything! Just because this million dollar asshole has a rich daddy, he thinks he can get away with anything. And my asswipe of a boss is agreeing with him!_**

**Andy finally seemed to have wound down. He turned to face the manager and said, "you know, in a store like this, I would expect to see decent employees, not the substandard moron that this idiot seems to be. If this is an example of your employees, then I might have to tell my father that we shouldn't allow you to represent Devon Co."**

**Both TJ and the manager stared at Andy, shocked. While he had said it as smooth as silk, Andy was threatening to blacklist the store. Without Devon products, they'd have nothing left to sell.**

**The manager turned to TJ, nostrils flaring. "TJ, turn in your badge and vest, and get out. You're fired."**

**TJ stared at the manager, then turned to stare at Andy. The bastard stood there, looking smug.**

**Slowly, TJ unbuttoned and pulled off his vest. Each movement chipped away at his almost nonexistent pride. Throughout the whole display, Andy stared at him, becoming more smug with each passing moment.**

**Tears threatened to spill out of TJ's eyes. He wasn't the bad guy here, Andy was! Why was he getting punished?**

**_Because it's me,_ he thought.**

**The manager held out his hand. TJ reached over to hand him his vest, but Andy put a hand out.**

**"I want him to hand it to me."**

**TJ stared. Andy had the most supremely smug expression possible on his face. The look in his eyes told TJ that this was just the beginning.**

**Deep inside TJ, something snapped. _Dammit,_ he thought, _this is _my_ dreamworld. This is _my_ dream come true. I've come too far, done too much, to be shut down by _anybody_! Not some puffed up prejudiced academic, not my family, and _certainly_ not some two bit spoiled rich brat who thinks he owns me!_**

**TJ stalked up to Andy, breathing heavily. Andy smiled down cruelly. He was expecting TJ to yell and rage, or beg for his mercy, or maybe even refuse to do it. Something along those lines.**

**He most certainly was _not_ expecting the knee that made contact with his groin.**

**Andy fell to the ground, groaning in agony. The store manager stared at TJ, shocked.**

**"HEY ASSWIPE!" shouted TJ, "YOU CAN'T FIRE ME!"**

**"Oh yeah? Why not!"**

**WHUMP!**

**TJ threw his vest with every ounce of strength he possessed right into the  
manager's face.**

**"BECAUSE!" he shouted, "I QUIT!"**

OOOOOOOO

**BAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAM-**

**Professor Birch stood up hastily and strode over to the door. "Blast it," he muttered, "it's 5:30! We're closed! There's no need to do that to my door, it takes enough punishment as it is-"**

**The Professor opened the door. "WE'RE CLO-"**

**He stopped mid word. There on the steps stood an exceedingly angry TJ.**

**"DAMMIT BIRCH," he shouted, "YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO TREAT ME THE WAY YOU DID YESTERDAY! WHAT YOU DID WAS PETTY AND SHORTSIGHTED, AND I WANT AN APOLOGY! _NOW_!"**

**Birch was flabbergasted. "I don't know who you think you are, young man, but if you're going to accuse me of something like that, you better be prepared to pay the consequences! It's my privilege to choose who I-"**

**TJ reached up and grabbed the front of the Professor's lab coat, and pulled his face down lower. This close, Birch could see that pure fury radiated from every inch of his body. TJ growled.**

**"Listen Birch," he said in a voice that was much quieter-and much scarier. "If I had wanted a lecture as to how worthless I am and how powerful you are, I would have come down here and yelled at you to do so. I did not. I have dealt with opposition and prejudice at every turn for the last ten years, and I am sick of it. I am going to achieve my dream, and no one on Earth is going to stop me. I'll tell you once: you make me a trainer or so help me God I will beat your ass either until you're dead our the police pry me off of your unconscious body. I don't give a ratfuck what you think of me, you _will_ do this."**

**The Professor was taken aback. This was not the shiftless lazy do nothing bum his son Brendan had told him about. In fact, this was not even the same boy who had walked through his door yesterday. This boy-no, this _man_, was completely different from the person who he had dismissed so easily.**

**_And why did you do that,_ a quiet little voice in his head said.**

**_Ah, I thought he would be too wishy-washy to be a trainer,_ Birch replied.**

_**What, you learned all that after just one glance?**_

**Birch squirmed. _No..._**

**_Well then,_ said the voice, _how _did_ you learn it?_**

**Birch searched within himself for the answer. When he finally realized it, he hung his head, ashamed of himself. _Brendan told me, and I believed him._**

**Birch sighed. He looked at TJ. "You're far too violent to be a trainer," he said.**

**"AND HOW WOULD YOU KNOW THAT!" TJ was back to shouting.**

**Birch stared at him. Inside a massive battle was raging. Finally he shook his head.**

**"I don't," he said. TJ stepped forward menacingly. "But," Birch continued, "nor do I know that you aren't. I know very little about you. How can I make a decision about you one way or the other?"**

**TJ growled angrily. "What's it matter? This isn't a matter of good or bad trainer; it's a matter of receiving a beating or avoiding one."**

**"I would be willing to die, to protect my pokémon," Said Professor Birch quietly.**

**TJ swelled, like he was about to explode. Birch prepared himself to meet his maker, or at least suffer a lot of pain. But, surprisingly, TJ let out a deep breath and looked him in the eye.**

**"How can I prove myself to you?"**

**Birch mulled this over for a second. How could he prove it? After all, the only information Birch had on him was what his son had told him, and he now knew that to be false. It was like a completely unknown person. What if...**

**"Do you object to labwork?" asked the Professor.**

**TJ gave the Professor a hard look. "If I work hard, and do a good job, and act  
like a trustworthy person, will you give me a pokémon?"**

**Birch nodded.**

**"And a trainer's license?" pressed TJ.**

**Again Birch nodded.**

**"And a pokédex?"**

**Birch hesitated, then shrugged. "Why not," he said.**

**TJ let out a deep deep sigh. Then he shook Birch's hand and said, "Professor, you got yourself a deal."**

**May stood up abruptly. Picking up her sidepack, she headed for the door.**

**"Hey," said TJ, "where are you going? I still have more to tell you."**

**May shook her head. "I'm sorry TJ, but this is sick. Your story is bizzare and  
unbelievable, and in the whole run of it I haven't heard a single shred of proof as to why you're right about those three. I'm leaving."**

**"Wait, May!" said TJ. May spun around and headed for the door. Standing in front of it was Treecko, glaring menacingly. She turned right, hoping to go out the pantry door. Mudkip was blocking her way. Fearing the worst, she spun a 180, coming face to face with Torchic. Knowing who was left, she turned to her left to see TJ holding up a strange rectangular object.**

**"Get the hell out of my way!" she said, in a panicked voice. TJ was starting to look more and more like Andy and Co.**

**"Please May, just look at it," he pleaded.**

**May was scared. However, she saw the sincerity in his eyes, the sorrow. She shouldn't, she really shouldn't, but she did.**

**"If I look, will you let me go?"**

**"I promise. And my word is my bond."**

**May sighed. "All right, I'll look."**

**TJ smiled. May stared at the small screen. Corny music was playing. On the screen, water was dripping off some leaves into a puddle. Several company names flashed across the screen. Then the view shifted to a grassy field, and something flew past them on the screen.**

**The view changed. Now they were watching some kid on a bicycle. She was riding at a breakneck pace. She had brown hair covered in a bandanna, and she wore a hip pack over her bike shorts. The girl looked familiar. Maybe it was supposed to be her sister. But she didn't have a sister. In fact, she was the only one from Littleroot town who looked like that. But that couldn't be her.**

**Could it?**

**May looked at TJ. He nodded. "Pretty good likeness, I'd say."**

**May stumbled back to the couch, in a daze. TJ sat down opposite her once more. "Shall I continue?"**

**May was unable to speak, she just nodded.**

**A/N:** Whew! Long one! But what fun to write! The next chapter should be a lot shorter. I hope. Just so you know peoples, I won't be posting for a while, I'll be in sunny Cali, enjoying the beach, the girls, the sun, the girls, the sights, the girls, and did I mention the girls? Don't wait up for me! But do review!

P.S. If I have insulted any Andys or Andrews out there, I apologize. It's just a story.


	6. The Three Pokéteers

**A/N:** Howdy y'all! Ah'm back from Cali! Sorry it took so long to update, my writing availability has become a bit impaired.

Anyway, lots of reviews to respond to! Yay! Lunar Sphinx, thanks for the advice-I wrote, edited, and posted the first 5 chappies between 10 PM and 1 AM, so my writing may have deteriorated a little over a period of time. And Andy's are _not_ jerks, I just chose a name. If you think about it it makes sense, because the difference between TJ in our world and TJ in theirs is basically pokémon, so they should be the same enemy name. But thanks all the same, and thanks for the encouragement about my faith. Pokémon Trainer B1, I certainly like your enthusiasm! However, I feel obligated to point out that this is _not_ a May story, it's an OC story with May thrown in to spice things up. If you want May, come back for the sequel (note: won't be for a _looooong_ time). Little Rabbit, I like your style! You make me feel like I'm actually a writer instead of some two-bit computer nerd punk. Thanks. I looked at your website; it's good. And Liz, thank you as always. Hopefully the cussing will go down after this chapter, although I can't really make someone a bad guy and expect my readers to believe that he has a problem with saying bad words. It just doesn't work like that. And yes, it is a little dramatic, but TJ's story _is_ being told by _TJ _(it should be noted that most of the American public _would_ blanch at a situation like that). And besides, it may not be small children with cancer, but it's still sad. And he can't get into college partly because the teachers are prejudiced, mostly because he's used to failure, conditioned for it. That changes, as you'll see.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokémon, Houenn, May, or any derivitave thereof. I do own my character TJ.

Note:  
"Speaking"  
_Thinking  
_Pokéspeak  
Psychic conversations  
**Flashbacks  
**SHOUTING

"Speaking"PokéspeakSHOUTING 

**Chapter Six:  
The Three Pokéteers**

**Location: Littleroot Town**

**Time: shortly after TJ's confrontation with the Professor**

**"TJ! Careful with those stacks of papers!"**

**"Yes sir."**

**TJ smiled. It was a happy smile, and he felt it right down to his toes. It had been too long since he had done something like that. In the month since he had started working for Birch, his cares and sorrows had slowly faded away. He was reluctant at first, but he soon discovered that he loved labwork. The machines and tests that he used and maintained only served to fuel his desire to learn as much as possible about pokémon, and he had put his new responsibilities to good use.**

**Chuckling, he picked up the stack of reports in front of him and moved them over to a cardboard box on the floor. His current task was to pick up all the old reports from the past several years and correctly box and label them. Then the Professor would load them in his pickup and take them home, where he kept all his old records. TJ would have been done long before this, but he kept reading something that caught his eye and asking the Professor about it. Now was no exception.**

**"Hey Professor! What's this 'Theory of Symbiosis Between Wurmple and Zigzagoon'?"**

**Birch looked up from his work and smiled at TJ. Their personal relationship had started out as shakily as their professional one had, but TJ's thirst for pokémon knowledge had quickly overcome emotional barriers. The Professor was delighted to have an assistant with no basis in classical pokology, and would spend hours discussing his observations with the boy, excited to have a fresh mind with no scientific prejudices. On TJ's part, he was ecstatic to have an employer give him answers so freely-a first, for him. The pairing was a match made in heaven, and both men felt so.**

**"Well, that's an old independent study I did about four years ago. It was never very well recieved in the scientific community, and since I was doing it as a hobby, I didn't really have the time or funds to pursue it. It's a pity really, I think I was really on to something."**

**"What! What! You have to tell me Professor!"**

**Birch chuckled. "Well, if you're really so interested you'll-"**

**But whatever the Professor had been about to say was lost forever, as someone knocked loudly on the front door of the lab. Their mouths twisted in annoyance, but customers came first, so the Professor got up to answer the door, and TJ returned to his papers and boxes. That turned out to be a good thing.**

**"You can't just waltz right in here! This is a delicate laboratory, with highly expensive-"**

**"Don't worry about it. I'm Andy Stone, my father sent you a letter, did he not?"**

**TJ's head shot up, and he glanced around wildly. Sure enough, there was Andy standing inside the door and looking around casually. Professor Birch stood next to him, looking upset and disconcerted. TJ ducked down before he was spotted.**

**"Well," the Professor said slowly, "I _do_ seem to remember a letter from the Devon Corporation sitting in my mail pile this morning, but I didn't get the chance to read-"**

**"No matter, it's all been arranged. I'm to stay with you and learn the finer points of being a first class pokologist, seeing as how I've already mastered the basics."**

**Birch bit his lip speculatively. He really didn't want to take the boy on, something about his attitude rubbed him wrong. And he didn't need any extra help, he had TJ. Birch was most definitely _not_ the teaching type. The last thing he wanted was to take on some arrogant fool as his apprentice. On the other hand, he _was_ the son of Devon Stone. Devon Stone, president of the Devon Corporation, was easily the most powerful man for several hundred miles. He happened to be the lab's best customer, often commissioning independent work to "keep my employees frisky", as he put it. Birch knew for a fact that he couldn't stand his younger son, wondered where he had gone wrong. But he also loved him, and wanted the best for him. If Birch had read his letter and replied to it this morning, he could have simply explained his situation and apologized for the disappointment. If he sent his son away now, however, not only would the boy go home and whine to his father, Mr. Stone would himself be highly offended at the lack of courtesy. One did not offend their best customer like that. So, Birch reluctantly agreed.**

**"All right, you're in. Might as well give you the grand tour. This is the main room, the one where I display my results to customers. Over there is the main computer bank, those are temporary holding cages where I keep whatever I'm working on at the moment, and over there are the desks that my assistan-"**

**WHUMP!**

**Professor Birch looked around wildly, trying to find the source of the stapler that had just hit him. He was almost sure that TJ had just thrown it at him, but he couldn't imagine why. After scanning the room for his assistant, the Professor shrugged and continued.**

**"Anyway, as I was saying, those are the desks that my assis-"**

**WHAP!**

**The Professor wanted to wring TJ's neck. What was wrong with the boy? he was behaving strangely! Andy was staring at the Professor curiously. "Is anything wrong, Birch?"**

**Professor Birch felt a surge of annoyance at his impudence, but suppressed it. "No, I don't think so-"**

**"Professor!" called out a strange voice. _Who is that_? thought the Professor. "Professor, watch out!"**

**Birch realized with a start that it was TJ speaking. He was doing something to his voice, disguising it somehow. "What's wrong!" he shouted back.**

**"One of the pokémon got out! He's throwing stuff everywhere and ripping the office apart! Come quick!"**

**That was serious! "Stay here," the Professor said to Andy. Then he hurried off towards his private office.**

**Once inside, he shut the door and looked around. He had a moment's glance of a perfectly fine office before TJ tackled him to the carpet.**

**Birch had had enough. "_What_ is going on here, TJ!" He hissed quietly.**

**TJ crept over to the door and peered under the crack. He nodded, as if satisfied, then quietly stood and locked the handle. Then he turned to face Birch.**

**"Professor, do you remember the story I told you about why I came here looking for a fight?"**

**"Of course I do, something about a rude nasty customer at your last job who made you want something more, and he tried to get you fired because he was rich and arrogant-oh no."**

**TJ nodded. "Oh yeah. And it looks like he hasn't changed none. If anything Andy's ruder and more arrogant than the last time I saw him. If he sees me here, it's curtains for the both of us."**

**Birch pondered this, then shook his head. "Are you sure? We don't know that he remembers you, he might not have any idea who you are. After all how many people do you think he's done that to-" TJ cut him off with a wave of his hand.**

**"Professor, I kneed him in the nuts. As a matter of fact, I kneed him so hard he had to be carted off by an ambulance. If you had some guy practically preform a sex-change operation on you, would you forget him?"**

**"Good point."**

**"Yeah. Like I said, if he sees me it's over for the both of us."**

**"Well, what should we do?"**

**"Simple. We pretend I don't exist. Tell him you've got an assistant who watches the pokémon for you, does all the menial stuff."**

**"I'd never do that! How can we possibly pass that off!"**

**"You know that you'd never do that, and I know that you'd never do that, but does _he_ know you'd never do that? He's so dang arrogant he'll never think twice about your story. It's something _he'd_ do, and he automatically assumes that everyone is just like him, I can guarantee you."**

**They talked a bit more. Birch couldn't make himself walk out of the room confidently, but he felt he could manage what he had to do, as long as Andy was as arrogantly stupid as TJ said he was. He cleared his throat.**

**"Sorry about the interruption Mr. Stone. If you'll follow me, I'll show you where the specific labs are, and where you'll be staying."**

**"Who was the other person in the office?"**

**The Professor's heart nearly skipped a beat. He felt like he had swallowed his tongue. Amazingly enough, he managed to keep a calm exterior and said, "oh, no one. Just some hired help to keep an eye on the pokémon. He feeds them and waters them and cleans up their messes."**

**"Oh, right. What's his name?"**

**The Professor shrugged. "No idea, really. It's not like he's important."**

**Displaying mind-blowing stupidity, Andy said, "oh. Okay."**

**"Right. Well, this way sir. Over here is the enviroment simulation room..."**

**TJ waited until they were out of earshot, then quietly snuck out of the office. Checking to make sure that Andy couldn't see him, he walked quickly across the room to the door. Slipping out, he began walking home. He would have rather worked the rest of the day, but with Andy there he couldn't do anything more that afternoon. He'd try again tomorrow.**

**_God,_ he thought, _if this is a joke, you're the only one laughing_.**

OOOOOOOO

**_I _hate_ diapers!_ thought TJ angrily.**

**He was sitting on a stool, trying to hold a struggling Makuhita still while he changed its diaper. The Makuhita was very old, or TJ would have had his nose broken long ago. But it still had enough pep to make the job irritating for him.**

**"Why couldn't you just run free, like all the _normal_ pokémon, huh?"**

**The Makuhita gave him a look that said he'd be just fine with that. TJ sobered. He may rage and storm, but he really couldn't get too angry at the pokémon. It, and its brethren, were all confined to this small auxilary lab at the other end of the Professor's complex. They had most of them been great warriors and famous champions in their time. But time has a way of passing, and all too soon they were has-beens waiting to find another youngster to battle. You can't keep battling forever, so when they got too old to safely fight they were retired. Those who refused to accept retirement gracefully were taken here, to the laboratory in section seventeen of the field, where they would spend the rest of their lives being taken care of by humans. It was depressing.**

**"All right, all right already. There, you're good to go. So impatient!"**

**Having been released from restraint, the Makuhita turned around and good-naturedly punched TJ in the shoulder. TJ chuckled and punched it right back. The pokémon were all right, really. They got along quite well, as long as he wasn't trying to change diapers on the ones who needed them. The Makuhita ambled off to find some friends to play with, and TJ stood up and looked around. Glancing at his clipboard, he checked off his last chore and placed it on the table with a sigh.**

**_Great,_ he thought, _I've finished all my chores and it's only ten. Now what?_**

**Fortunately for TJ and the Professor, Andy was a late sleeper. That first morning after he arrived, TJ had gotten up at the crack of dawn. Moving quickly, he had gotten ready and raced over to the lab, where the Professor had been up and waiting. The two men had talked quietly for the better part of an hour, and finally decided that TJ would spend his time around Andy hidden away in the Section Seventeen laboratory. He hadn't been happy about it, but in the end he had agreed that there was nowhere else to hide. He didn't want to be seen by Andy-he could avoid the consequences easily enough, just go somewhere that Devon didn't sell. But the Professor would lose his life's work, and TJ loved the man too much to do that to him.**

**As it frequently had for the past week, the small reinforced room in the corner caught his eye. TJ vividly remembered the day its occupants had arrived seven days ago...**

**"Hey Professor! Nice to see you for a change! How'd you get away from the boy blunder?"**

**"I told him I was doing something dangerous that involved lots of hard work." That would instantly deterr Andy, who thought that hard was a four letter word.**

**TJ watched the Professor curiously as he brought the reinforced room in the corner to life. As far as he knew it was for rowdy subjects, too dangerous to leave around the other occupants of the lab. It had solid steel bars running through the walls and ceiling, a specially case-hardened concrete floor, a solid titanium sheet welded to the steel in the ceiling, a plating of rough-cut granite on the walls, a steel veneer over it, a special flame retardent ceramic-polymer spray coating on all the surfaces of the room, a special sun lamp to simulate noon, an independent air recycling system, and two independantly operated air lock systems to be thouroughly sure that nothing escaped. It was a fortress, the most impenetrable fortress for miles. He had never seen it occupied.**

**Now there were _police officers_ in the room! It was serious then. Some pokémon that was too dangerous to allow around humans, but one that hadn't committed a truly serious crime yet. Three pokémon, he realized as three violently shaking cages were brought in the room. The cages each had a small window, about the size of a human fist, and TJ caught a glimpse of their occupants. A small Mudkip that kept hurling itself at the door, a desperate look on its face. A Treecko with the coldest violet eyes he had ever seen. And a Torchic...**

**The moment TJ locked eyes with the Torchic, it felt like he was burning up. He felt pierced by a thousand little needles. The Torchic was measuring him, staring at him intently. Its eyes burned with a fiery purpose that stole the breath from TJ's lungs. It stood confidently, glaring at the world and especially him. But behind that gaze lurked something TJ recognized, something he was all too familiar with. Pain. Fear. Anger. Despair. A blending of all four. He didn't know anything about these three, but he knew one thing-they were fighting the same battle he had.**

**They were brought into the room and unceremoniously dumped on the floor. The moment it was free the Treecko lunged at the police officers and tried to attack them, but they beat a hasty retreat. The doors sealed, and they were locked in.**

**The Professor turned from the big metal cylinders that served as entrance mechanisms and faced TJ. "TJ," he said, "listen carefully. Those three are considered fatal to humans, and a danger to other pokémon and themselves. Going in there would be nothing short of suicide for you. They all hate humans, and won't hesitate to harm you in any way. I know how curious you are, and normally I encourage it, but listen to me now: _do not go in there_. Is that clear?"**

**"Yes sir," TJ replied. But in his mind he crossed imagined fingers. He didn't like lying to the Professor, but he just had to see those pokémon. There had to be a way to reach them! There had to be a way to ease away their pain...**

**And now here he was a week later, no closer to actually getting inside. He knew that they hadn't been fed in the week since they had arrived, but he doubted that was the angle he needed to try and reach the friendly happy creatures buried deep inside them. _No,_ he thought,_ there has to be another way, a better way._**

**Three Hours Later...**

**_Okay, so I'm an unorigional hack. So sue me._**

**TJ walked through the first airlock. He had a platter of various sandwhiches and prepackaged snacks in his left hand, and a platter of assorted fruits and vegetables in his right. He would have preferred to enter with a peace offering and a brilliant plan to reach the friendly creatures within, but after a week of thinking he had settled on food and winging it. Not the best of ideas, but he was good at winging it. And he had God. How could things possibly go wrong?**

**_Don't think about it,_ he thought to himself. His imagination promptly ignored him and began conjuring horrible images, but he resolutely pressed on.**

**The first airlock cycled through. It was a ten minute wait while the air was replaced with the canned stuff that was piped into the room, then the first airlock had to close before the second one would start to open. Once that happened, there was no turning back. Win or lose, live or die, beef or pork, he was going into that room.**

**_God,_ he thought, _your will be done. But I'd rather I _didn't_ die, if you don't mind._**

**The recycling system seemed to take forever, but finally the air was completely replaced. TJ elbowed the button that would close the first airlock and open the second one. He took a deep breath, and moved right up to the door. It was showtime.**

**The door opened with a hiss. TJ immediatly strode through with a big smile plastered on his face. "Hey guys, thought you might be hungry so I grabbed a snack! My but that does look tasty! Why don't we all sit down and quietly mu-ack!"**

**The Treecko was already at his throat, growling quietly. His hands clenched insistently at the flesh of TJ's neck, trying to strangle him. Excuse me, trying? Succeeding! TJ was struggling to breathe, he was about to pass out. But he made a valiant effort to reason with the murderous little beast. "Hey, I thought you were-GASP-a fairly bright and intelligent-GASP-creature, not some-GASP-two bit hack who-GASP-jumps at every enemy he-GASP-faces without thinking!"**

**The Treecko looked positively enraged now, but TJ wasn't looking at him. He was looking at the Torchic, who seemed to be considering his words. He chirped softly at the Treecko. The Treecko looked, if possible, even angrier, but relented his grip enough that TJ could speak easily. The Torchic looked at him and uttered a curious half-chirp, as if to say, "explain yourself."**

**TJ coughed and spluttered for about ten minutes. The Treecko was on the verge of restrangling him when he cleared his throat and looked directly at the Torchic. **

**"You could kill me and rip me apart, but that would cause an alarm. The alarm would bring people, who would rush in here and try to stop you. And we all know what that means: _they'd take away the food._ I say you eat, regain your strength, and then kill me _afterwards._ It's only sense."**

**Several tension-filled moments passed as the Torchic mulled this over. The Mudkip sat about ten feet away, eyeing TJ warily, and the Treecko remained clutching his throat. Finally the Torchic chirped loudly, and ambled over to the food. The Mudkip shrugged and waddled towards the trays as well although TJ noticed he stayed well clear of him. The Treecko, however, snapped his head around and sent TJ a death glare that almost killed him right there. TJ mustered up his courage and returned the glare pound for pound, fueling the contest with his years of frustration and pain. The contest went on for several minutes, neither side giving an inch. Finally, TJ said, "it's not like I want to stop or anything, but I'm fairly hungry and you must be starved. What say you we adjourn to eat, and pick up after the meal?"**

**The Treecko seemed shocked by this remark. It stared at TJ as if he were an alien from outer space. TJ stared right back, but gestured towards the food. He cocked his eyebrow in a questioning manner. The Treecko stared for a few more moments, then shrugged and went to join his friends. TJ sighed quietly, so far so good.**

**He strode over to the trays and sat next to the Mudkip. The Mudkip immediately scooted away from TJ, looking frightened. He was resolutely gnawing on a roast beef sandwich, but he was having little luck. The plastic wrapper was still on it. TJ smiled and reached a hand towards him. The little creature squeaked with fright and scuttled away, dropping the sandwich. The Treecko sprang up, growling at TJ, but TJ waved him away. "Peace, peace. I mean no harm."**

**He then proceeded to unwrap the sandwich. He crumpled up the wrapper and set it down on the tray. "Mayonnaise or mustard?" he asked. The Mudkip stared at him. He sighed exasperatedly, then held up a packet of mayonnaise. "Would you like some?" The Mudkip nodded cautiously. TJ opened the packet and spread it on the sandwich. He held up a packet of mustard. "Some of this?" The Mudkip shook his head no. TJ shrugged, put the packet back on the tray, and pushed the sandwhich towards the Mudkip. The Mudkip approached the sandwich cautiously, as if he were afraid it would explode. He sniffed it twice, then licked it carefully, jumping back as he did. He stared at it inscrutably for several moments, then took a tiny bite. His eyes lit up and he began gobbling it down happily.**

**TJ laughed quietly. "Gee, you guys aren't a bit _hungry_, are you? I guess I should bring food to you more often." The Treecko snorted indifferently, and TJ remembered that they were going to kill him after they ate. "Or not. I guess this'll have to last a while, since no one will come in here after you kill me."**

**They ate in silence for several more minutes. TJ sat watching them eat. They were all very ferocious in appearance, but he couldn't shake the feeling that deep down inside they were all in vast amounts of pain, and suffering from agonizing fear.**

**"Chic! Torchic chic chic tor!"**

**TJ focused in on the three pokémon. They were all staring at him suspiciously. He wondered what he had done.**

**The Torchic hopped over and pushed a bananna towards TJ. He inclined his head, indicating that TJ should eat it. TJ shook his head and smiled. "No thanks."**

**The Torchic stared at him hard. TJ elaborated. "I was kinda hungry, but I can get food anytime, and who knows when someone will feed you next? Besides, you haven't eaten for a week! I figured you guys need this more than I do."**

**All three pokémon stared at him as if he'd just announced he was a Swellow. He looked at them and said, "what?"**

**They stared at him long and hard, then looked at eachother. They seemed shocked by his actions. TJ sniffed. ****"Geez, try to be nice and see what thanks I get. Thanks guys!"**

**They stared at him like he had just announced he was a _pregnant_ Swellow. He stared back at them, comprehension dawning. **

"Whoa, hold up. What do you mean, 'pregnant Swellow'?"

"Well, when's the last time you heard of a guy getting pregnant?"

"You are _so weird_!"

"Gee thanks, I love you too. You want me to finish the story or not?"

**"Haven't you guys ever heard of being nice before?"**

**The Torchic chirped inquisitively.**

**A sad look appeared on TJ's face. "You mean you haven't heard of being nice? you haven't heard of doing something that's good for someone else just because you want to? hasn't anyone ever done things like that for you?"**

**The Treecko snorted derisively.**

**TJ's eyes filled up with tears. He had been right, they were suffering like he had. He didn't know what possessed him just then, he only knew he wanted to wash away all their pain. He quickly lunged and grabbed the three of them in a big bear hug.**

**Pandemonium ensued. The Treecko tried to twist around and grab hold of his neck, the Mudkip was struggling to escape, and the Torchic was doing his best to shred his arm. All three were angrily shouting in their own languages, but TJ didn't care. He just hugged them tighter. He began to cry.**

**"I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry," he sobbed. "I'm so sorry that you've all led such painful lives. I wish I could erase them and fill your pasts with happiness and love instead. I wish that I could take you home and pamper you like kings. Look, I don't know how and I don't know when, but somehow, _someday_, I promise I'll get you out of here, and into good homes where everyone loves you a lot. I _promise_."**

**The Mudkip was still trying to escape, and the Treecko was still trying to strangle him, but the Torchic had quieted down. He was sitting silently in TJ's arms, staring off into the distance. TJ held them all close (the Treecko latched onto his neck with a triumphant snarl), and whispered, "I will make your lives better. I promise, and my word is good."**

**The Torchic hunched up, as if he was feeling sick to his stomach. Then all of a sudden he burst out crying.**

**TJ and the other two pokémon stopped what they were doing and stared. The Treecko and the Mudkip looked shocked, as if this was unbelievable. But TJ simply put them down and held the Torchic tight, rubbing his head. "It's all right, it's all right, I'm here," he murmered. "I'll take care of you, don't worry. Everything'll be fine."**

**This proved too much for the Mudkip, who broke down and began crying too. He looked miserable at being left out. TJ stood up and walked over to where he had run to, and sat down. The Mudkip looked at him alarmedly, hiccoughing.**

**"Open-ended invitation, little guy. Feel free to join in."**

**Cautiously at first, and then with wild abandon, the Mudkip ran straight into TJ's arms. He buried his face in the man's chest, sobbing. TJ snaked an arm around him and hugged him closer, whispering soothingly.**

**The Treecko stood there, watching his friends. His face was contorted with more rage than TJ had yet seen, and he seemed to be having trouble breathing. He stared at TJ through slitted eyes, and growled menacingly.**

**TJ looked up. He smiled sadly. "You're welcome to join, if you want..." he trailed off.**

**The Treecko shook his head savagely.**

**TJ's mouth twisted sadly. "I thought not," he said.**

**The Treecko picked up a tray and brandished it like a weapon. He growled challengingly at TJ.**

**TJ smiled sadly again. "You're a good fighter, no argument there," he said. "But doesn't it get tiring to constantly fight alone? Wouldn't you like to have a friend to fight with, at least _one_ person who's on your side?"**

**The Treecko's eyes softened for just a moment, then hardened razor sharp. "Treecko ko tree ko treeckotree!" he shouted.**

**TJ didn't have to know what he'd said to understand. The Treecko wanted to know why he should trust TJ, why TJ was different. The Torchic and the Mudkip were now staring at him intensely. TJ sighed.**

**"You wanna know why I'm different?" he said. " 'Cause. 'Cause I know what it's like to have no friends. I know what it's like to have everyone hate your guts for no good reason." He sank to the ground. " 'Cause I know how it feels to not want to go out on a Friday night, for fear of getting beaten to a pulp by some drunk football star. 'Cause I understand how much it hurts when you're friendly and kind, and all they see is different, weird, _scary_. 'Cause I understand. I understand what it's like to hurt from the inside out. I understand how it feels to always be sad, and and depressed, and and just wish that you could just kill some of the people who don't like you, and, and, and..."**

**TJ trailed off. Tears were falling from his eyes in a slow steady stream. He was staring off into nowhere, lost in painful memories. His first day at school in town. His first swirly. His first unfairly flunked paper. His first rejection by a company. His first returned college application letter. The memories just kept piling up, eating away at his heart.**

**Something bumped his hand. He looked down to see the Torchic's bleary face staring up at him. He held out his arms, and the creature jumped right in. The Mudkip followed, nestling into the crook of his arm. He looked up at the Treecko, who was staring at him.**

**The Treecko's glare was as hard as ever. He seemed to radiate defiance. His posture was ramrod straight, and he held his arms stiffly at his sides. He seemed to be refusing to allow himself to believe TJ. TJ sighed.**

**"What can it hurt just this once? I need a friend just as badly as you do."**

**The Treecko gestured at the two pokémon in TJ's arms.**

**TJ shook his head and tried to smile. "Always room for one more, dude."**

**The Treecko slumped as if he had a great weight on his shoulders. He stared at the ground, not willing to look at TJ. He shuffled his feet and played with his tail. Finally, he looked up. His face was tense and rigid, but TJ saw a single tear fall from his eye. He managed to actually smile. "It's okay, you can cut loose," he said. "I promise not to tell anyone."**

**The Treecko sniffled loudly, and three more tears fell down his face. Then he stumbled over to TJ and dived into his arms. TJ held them all close, and whispered, "you guys are like the best friends I always wanted."**

OOOOOOOO

**Professor Birch stumbled over to Section Seventeen. He was completely exhausted, Andy had been even more stupid than usual. Even worse, he had seen TJ coming to work. He had thrown a tantrum when he recognized him, and asked Birch what he was doing here. Gritting his teeth, Birch had told Andy that TJ was his assistant, the one he had yet to meet.**

**"I'm telling my father!" Andy had shouted. "That boy is a menace!"**

**The phone call from Devon Stone had been pure torture. Devon had ranted for hours about the "shady individuals" that Birch employed, and worried about his son being near such a person. He finally said that Something Had To Be Done about this TJ character.**

**Bracing himself, Professor Birch had replied, "Devon, you are my friend of many years and my best employee by a mile. You have been a pleasure to work with and a joy to talk to. I have fairly gladly done favors for you, including apprenticing a son that you yourself have told me is quite useless. But I draw the line at firing TJ." Mr. Stone began to protest, but Birch forged onward. "Devon, TJ is a brilliant person.-"**

"_Brilliant?_ Ha!"

"Believe it or not, I'm quoting the Professor. I think he says that because I listened so well to him."

"Uh huh. _Whatever_."

"Do you _mind_?"

"Hmm. Touchy."

**"...is a brilliant person. He has a unique way of looking at things, and a curiosity that knows no bounds. He has faced numerous hardships, including your son, who is practically a natural disaster. He has made leaps and bounds, and become a man of integrity and great honor, and he has a promising future as a pokémon researcher. He is determined that he will succeed, no matter the odds. He is my employee, my student, and my _friend_. I will not fire him. You can ruin my business if you want, I can always go somewhere else, but I will not fire TJ for you. Is that clear?"**

**Devon Stone had been shocked. He hadn't heard Birch speak this passionately for a while. And what had happened between TJ and his son? He inquired, and Birch was more than happy to give him the full tale.**

**Mr. Stone was quiet for several minutes. Finally he said, "call Andy in. I want to talk to him."**

**It was not, apparently, a pleasant conversation. Andy slammed the phone down and stormed out of the room in a huff. "I'm going to my room," he said shortly. "Don't bother to come after me."**

**Birch was only too happy to comply. He was exhausted enough without having to comfort an angry prima donna. All he wanted to do was talk to TJ like he had been unable to for three weeks.**

**The moment Birch stepped into the laboratory, he knew something was up. Not a single pokémon could be seen, not a one could be heard. He went stomping around, and finally found them in the corner, looking at the monitor connected to the minicam inside the strong room. Curious, he looked at the picture.**

**TJ was being swarmed by the three pokémon inside.**

**Birch had never moved so quickly in his life. Inside the airlock he cursed the mind that had been so redundant in its protective measures; he felt worse when he realized it had been him. He waited the full thirteen minutes the mechanism required to operate, then dashed into the room screaming, "TJ!"**

**TJ sat up, a bemused expression on his face. "Yes?"**

**Birch stared. His jaw dropped to the floor. TJ didn't have a scratch on him! It was several minutes before Birch could speak coherently.**

**"How did you fight them off?"**

**"Huh? Who?"**

**"The pokémon! How did you keep them from killing you!"**

**TJ smiled and shook his head. "You know, it's amazing what you can learn if you just talk to people. These guys really aren't so bad, they're just misunderstood."**

**Birch was speechless again. TJ smiled at him, then his face took on a serious cast.**

**"Professor," he said, "I think it's time to start my journey. With these three."**

**The Professor stared at him like he had just announced he was a pregnant Swellow. TJ sighed. "Lotta that going around."**

**The Professor blinked. "TJ, those three are considered _dangerous to humans._** **They're _hardened killers_. I can't let you leave with them!"**

**"Don't worry about it, they're cool. They've signed on with me, so it's all good."**

**"How can I believe that, TJ? They're dangerous!"**

**TJ sighed. He looked the Professor straight in the eye and said, "look Professor, I understand that you don't trust them. But trust _me_! I know what I'm talking about! They're considered dangerous, and that's true. They're bitter, and they want to lash out at the world that has spurned them. But they will abide peacefully, if they're with me. _I_ _know who I am,_ Professor. I know the inner depths of my soul. And I tell you truly, these three are men after my own heart. You can trust me when I say they will do no harm with me."**

**The Professor twitched his eyes back and forth between TJ and the pokémon. He wanted to believe it, he really did. But how _could_ he?**

**The Treecko snarled at him angrily. TJ bent over and whispered something to him. The Treecko growled in an irritated fashion, but TJ simply said, "please."**

**The Treecko huffed. Then he squirmed for a bit and stared at the ground. Finally he gave a resigned sigh and strode over to Birch.**

**"Ko treeckotree kotree tree ko ko. Treecko ko treecko."**

**Birch had no idea what he was saying, but it was clear that he was apologizing in some way. He even looked a bit contrite. Birch stared at him in shock for a moment, then snapped his eyes to TJ's face.**

**"Well?" said TJ.**

**Birch stood silently, staring at the four before him. His mind raced. Eventually he sighed. "Well, who am I to argue with _this_?" He gestured expressively at the three pokémon. "Be it on your own head, but you can have them."**

**TJ's mouth worked a few times, as if he couldn't make it work. He had a disbelieving look on his face. "I can have them?"**

**"Yes, you can have them."**

**Tears filled TJ's eyes. "THANK YOU PROFESSOR!" he shouted.**

**The Professor smiled. "No, thank you. Thank you for being so wonderfully different that you listen to me, and can calm the rage of three dangerous monsters. Thank you for coming into my life, TJ."**

**TJ sniffed and scrubbed the tears from his eyes. "No problem. That's what friends are for, right?"**

**The Professor smiled. "Right."**

**TJ sobered, and smiled wanly at the Professor. "I guess that 'Theory of Symbiosis between Wurmple and Zigzagoon' will have to wait, huh."**

**The Professor nodded. "That it will." There were tears in his eyes.**

**TJ sniffed. Then he lunged towards the Professor and encircled him in a bear hug. "I'll miss you," he whispered. He looked up at the man who had become his closest friend.**

**"I'll miss you as well," the Professor replied. "Take care of yourself TJ."**

**TJ nodded and swallowed hard. He was quiet for a moment, then turned to his pokémon. "Come on guys, let's get outta here. I'm gonna go home and make you _waffles_."**

**Torchic cocked his head curiously.**

**"They're a breakfast food that has lots of sugar."**

**All three pokémon cheered loudly. Torchic hopped up onto TJ's shoulder, Mudkip sprang forward and headed towards the door, and Treecko groaned and took off after Mudkip. TJ laughed. Then, with a bounce in his step, he followed his newly adopted family out the door and towards home.**

OOOOOOOO

TJ and May sat quietly. He had just finished telling his tale. Everyone in the room fidgeted uncomfortably.

TJ cleared his throat. "Ahem. Well, what do you think?"

May sat and thought for a moment. Then she sighed. "I believe you. I know I'm crazy, but I believe you."

The four Kanes cheered loudly.

May smiled at them. It was a small smile, an unsure smile, but it was a smile nonetheless. "Look," she said, "I can't promise anything. But I'll try to let go of my predjudices."

TJ smiled. "That's all any of us can offer," he said.

May smiled again and felt a strange warm swoop in her stomach. She stared at her watch to cover it, then leapt up. "Crap!"

"What! What's wrong!"

"It's ten thirty. Ten thirty _P.M._!"

TJ moaned. "Crud, your mom is going to _murder_ me."

They stared at each other for a moment, the TJ said, "you wanna call her, or should I?"

"I'll do it," she replied.

TJ nodded and stood up. "Fine, I'll fix dinner."

He strode into the kitchen and began playing with the stove, and May picked up the phone to dial her mom and tell her she was staying another night. As she was dialing the number, Mudkip ambled over and climbed up next to her on the couch. May tensed, and Mudkip turned hurt eyes on her. _He's _fine_, remember?_ she thought to herself. _Focus, focus May!_

She took a deep breath, then reached out and began to stroke his head. Mudkip sighed and leaned against her thigh peacefully. May smiled. _Cute,_ she thought.

She didn't notice it, but TJ smiled warmly at her.

**A/N:** Done! Finally! This has been the chapter that just wouldn't die. Oh my head! Oh well, it's done now. Next chapter, May and TJ have their very first lovers' spat! Awww, how _cute!_ Well, until next time, please please _please_ review. C ya later!


	7. A Fork in the Road

**Author's Note:** Hey everybody! Long time no see! Sorry, I guess it has been a while since I updated, but there've been reasons for that, life's been busy, and this chapter was pretty hard to write _cough_getting ready for and playing FR/LG, and beating FR_cough_. Hey! Who said that! Oh well. Anyways... First off, to all the people who're reading this just for me, THANK YOU! A LOT! You guys rock.

Second off, to all the other people (you know, the fans of pokémon, the ones I don't spend time explaining stuff to), if you like my story then you may like a website I recently discovered, and I tried to put it here, really, but the computer is being stupid, and won't let me, so it's in my profile. This site has everything-a fanfiction created with love and care (and a really unique plot), character bios to go along with it, origional art to entice new readers, a site history, multimedia vaults, fan art, and a really cool authoress. I highly recommend that you check it out, it's awesome.

Okay, time to respond to reviews. First off, Liz, thank you. I do appreciate the comments about my writing style, maybe I do need to step away from it every so often. As to my comment, it's a _joke_. But I'll be the first to admit it probably wasn't in very good taste, so I apologize. Lunar Sphinx, I don't think I'm really paying attention to the O's I use to divide different sections, but as I might have mentioned a time or twenty, these chapters are all written between 9 PM and 2 AM (although it rarely goes that late), so they're works of will, determination, love, exhaustion, and Mountain D-err, Onix Breeze. As for counting on a college, I wouldn't know seeing as I've only ever been to community college myself. Little Rabbit, I thank you for the encouragement, I'm pretty dang impressed at the fact that you managed to get an entire studio to applaud for me, I only wish I could have been there in person (small man leans over and whispers something in author's ear) Oh, I get it. Well, thanks anyway, I've been thinking and I'll get back to you soon, if I haven't already. Zizzo, I appreciate the honest praise and I'm glad to know what you like about my style of writing-I'll try to keep it up. And as for your suggestion for a bit of backstory... stop reading my to-do list! That story comes later!

Anyway, so far this story has gotten a response that I consider pretty dang good, after all it's not the quantity of something, it's the _quality_ (don't believe me? go out and get a cup of Starbucks and a cup of cafeteria coffee, and then come back and prove me wrong). Anyway, it's been a real trip, I mean _treat_, for me to write this story. I'm enjoying the process very much, it's like I was born to do this. Read, review, and if you have the time, enjoy.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokémon, Houenn, May, or any derivitave thereof. I do own  
my character TJ.

**Note:  
** "Speaking"  
_Thinking_  
Pokéspeak  
Psychic conversations  
**Flashbacks  
**SHOUTING!

**Chapter Seven:  
A Fork in the Road**

May stretched her arms out and listened to her joints crack in response. Shoving her blanket aside she sat up on the couch and yawned, half awake, then stood and began her usual morning stretching routine. She was halfway through her twentieth toe touch when she heard a loud thump.

"OWWW!"

May's eyes flew wide open into full wakefullness. Searching wildly for the source of the noise, her eyes came to rest on TJ, who was rubbing his forehead.

"What are you doing up this early?" she exclaimed.

"Ummm..." TJ's face arranged itself into an embarrassed expression. "It's not really that early. It's like nine thirty in the morning."

May felt her face turning crimson. "What! How could I have slept through your fight?"

TJ's face looked perplexed. "Fight?"

"You know, the fight you have every morning with Torchic!"

"We didn't have one today."

"You told me you always have one!"

"Well, today we didn't"

"Why not!"

"We just didn't. You are a guest, after all."

"Were you in the kitchen while I was stretching?"

Now it was _TJ's_ turn to blush. "Umm, yeah?"

"And did you, uh, _watch me_?"

TJ cleared his throat several times. "Umm, no. I mean, not, not really, just a little bit. You know, t-t-to make sure you're all healed from the day before last. It's not like I had any interest or anything, I-I was just making sure you were all right, I hate the thought of you getting hurt-I mean-no-uh-I-I-uh-hurt! Pain! Bad! I don't like to see things in pain! It's not like I have any feelings for you, or like you or any-CRAP! I mean, uh, just ignore that last part! I, uh, well, that was just an example! There's nothing in it! No substance! You really shouldn't think about it! I mean, you probably don't even believe in love at first sight anyway! Not that you should! Not that I do! No! Never! That's the craziest thing I ever-"

"TJ!"

"Ahh, what?"

May inhaled angrily. In an icy tone, she said, "_did you stare at my butt_?"

TJ looked like he had been smacked with a frying pan. "Come again?"

"You heard me!"

"_No, _I did not stare at your butt. Should I have?"

May sighed, and just like that the tension left the room. "Watch it buddy, I'm in range to slap you," she said. But there was no venom in the words.

"Oh no!" exclaimed TJ. "Anything but that! Not the hand! No torture is worse than receiving a blow from your delicate appendages! Have mercy!"

May giggled. "Ha _ha_, Romeo. Now, _about_ love at first sight-"

TJ leapt up, turning red. "Uh, y-you should get in the shower. I uh, breakfast! Break will be ready soonfast. I mean, fast will be ready breaksoon! Uh, no, I mean soon will be ready fastbreak! Ah! Just-you-shower-ready-h-hungry-now!"

May sighed. "Relax, I'm going."

And then she trudged up the stairs.

OOOOOOOO

Water gushed out of the shower head and May yelped as it hit her. Slowly it began to warm up and she started scrubbing her hair.

_What is going _on_ here?_ She thought to herself. She just didn't understand it. She reflected on all the things that had happened over the last two days...the feeling she felt every time she looked into TJ's eyes...her uncontrollable urge to flirt shamelessly with him...her assumption that he was an angel...her dream (May turned crimson as she remembered it-how embarrassing! She was glad no one could read her mind and see it.). And then there was this morning. What on _Terra_ was that?

She tried to recall exactly what had bothered her so much. After all, it was fairly obvious that TJ felt some sort of attraction to her, so why would she be upset that he was staring at her while she stretched? Okay, so having someone stare at your butt was way uncomfortable. But so? She'd had no problem with him _touching _her butt, and anyway she should have known better than to stretch in some stranger's house...

May's stomach twisted as a revelation hit her. She should have known better, and she _would_ have, except she hadn't noticed she was in some stranger's house. Come to think of it, she never slept well in someone else's home, and why had she been so comfortable while she had eaten breakfast with TJ yesterday? Was she upset because she felt like she was home in this house?

_No,_ she realized, _it's not that I feel at home in this house, I feel at home around TJ._ She shook her head violently, spraying water everywhere. _But that's crazy! I've know this guy for what, less than 40 hours? How can I possibly feel like I know him? This is crazy!_

Still, she couldn't dismiss the feeling that she was home when she was around him. Something had happened to her when she had first laid eyes on him, a feeling of safety and contentment. It was almost like she was made for him, and vice versa.

She shook her head even more violently. _Get ahold of yourself girl! You're losing it!_

She had no way of knowing that TJ was having a similar discussion with himself.

OOOOOOOO

May came down the stairs dressed in yet another borrowed outfit. She peeked around the corner and saw TJ sitting at the table with the three pokémon. They all had their backs to her, and they all seemed engrossed in their breakfast. May squirmed uncomfortably, nervous about earlier in the morning.

"Come sit down, we saved you a plate."

May jumped a foot in the air. TJ hadn't even turned around, but he was definitely talking to her. She was caught; nothing for it but to actually sit down and eat. She strode over to the table, but stopped short.

There were seven place settings. Besides TJ, Torchic, Treecko, and Mudkip, her Beautifly and Combusken were sitting and eating quietly.

"Guys!" breathed May. Tears filled her eyes. "I'm so happy to see you! You're all right! And all healed! What happened?"

Combusken looked up and inclined his head towards TJ, then went back to eating. Beautifly stared intently at her food. Neither made direct eye contact with her. She sighed uncomfortably.

"Thank you."

TJ shook his head. "They needed it, and I'm not one to refuse a pokémon aid. Thanks are unnecessary." He looked straight into her eyes, and she felt as if he was once again sifting her soul. "You know, they told me about what you're planning. About how you're going to turn them over to Birch. Why would you do something like that?"

May sighed sadly. "TJ, what do you know about my life for the past three and a half years?"

He shrugged. "You traveled with Ash a while ago, I know that much."

At the mention of Ash, May felt a familiar tug at her heart, and before she knew it she was spilling her entire life's story out to this near stranger in front of her.

"...And so I decided that they deserved better than a washout like me, so I'm taking them to Birch," she sobbed. "Don't you see? It's the right thing to do!"

TJ regarded her quietly, his face impassive. She stared at the table, ashamed of herself, ashamed of her complete worthlessness. She was sure that whatever TJ had felt, it was now gone.

"Who are you?"

The question caught May off guard. "What?"

"When you look at yourself in the mirror," said TJ, "What do you see?"

May hung her head again. "I see a washout."

TJ snorted. "Why."

"Because I spent two years ignoring to truth, and pretending that I didn't care about Ash. I _ran_, TJ! I ruined these guys' lives because I was too scared and too stupid to face the truth!"

"And that truth was..."

"That Ash doesn't love me! Never did, probably never will! There, you happy? I said it!"

TJ looked at her for a bit. "And you finally realized that this was bugging you, influencing your life, and so you're doing the grownup thing for your pokémon by releasing them, huh?"

May sniffled, then nodded.

"You know what May? I don't think you've grown up at all."

May's head shot up. "WHAT!"

"So you fell for some kid, and he didn't feel for you. So what? These things happen. Instead of moving on, you moped and ran around like a chicken with its head cut off for two years. Okay, so it was your first crush slash love. I can understand that. But when you realized how immature you were being, what did you do? Buck up and move on? No! You decided that you were ugly and worthless, and that you were going to have a little pity party, and you even went so far as to include your pokémon in it!"

"You think this is a pity party?" hissed May. "Fine. Let's look at my life achievements."

"Well, what are your goals?"

May growled angrily and clenched her jaw, then sighed. "I don't even know anymore. I guess I wanted to be the best coordinator around for a while, but I lost sight of that when Ash left."

"So? Get out there and coordinate! Be the best!"

May shook her head. "But I've wasted so much time! It's too late for me..."

TJ sat quietly for a long time. "That's what I thought too," he finally said. "And yet, here I am."

May looked up at him despairingly. "But _how_ do I start over, TJ?"

TJ shook his head. "Just go and _do_ it, May. You can do it again-live your dream! Look, just because some shmuck from Kanto left you high and dry, that doesn't mean the sky is falling. You can do this!"

"But what if I'm not strong enough," May whispered.

Suddenly, something encircled her legs. She looked down to see Combusken holding tight to her middle. Beautifly fluttered up and landed on her head. Torchic, Treecko, and Mudkip all stood up and latched onto her feet. TJ stood up and looked her straight in the eye.

"We are here for you, May. We all believe in you, and we can give you the strength to do this."

"What if I mess up?"

"Try again."

"But won't you be angry at me for screwing up again?"

"No."

May gazed into TJ's eyes, and saw that he meant it from the bottom of his heart. And at that very moment, she understood why she felt at home around TJ. He saw her as she truly was, all her prides, fears, insecurities, her troubled past, her uncertain future, and her fear of another rejection. He saw her, warts and all, and he accepted her anyway. More, he _welcomed_ her.

May dissolved into tears, but this time they were joyful. She fell to her knees, but TJ prevented her from falling anymore. He held her tight, and all the pokémon got in on some group hug action. Tears flowed all around.

"It's all right," whispered TJ, "you're gonna be okay now."

OOOOOOOO

May skipped along the road happily. She giggled to herself, and dashed ahead only to dash back a moment later. She felt like she had a brand new chance, and she couldn't but help act like the girl she had once been long ago.

TJ trudged along behind her, less than thrilled with the situation. Try as he might, he had been unable to convince her that she was completely safe traveling alone in Littleroot. So he had agreed to accompany her, and now he was about to partake in a tradition as old as time itself. He was going to meet May's parents.

He would have rather gone a few more rounds with Andy.

_Buck up buddy,_ he thought to himself,_ it's go time._

May skipped over to where he was strolling and started walking by his side. She was so excited he could feel it like it was a physical force. She smiled.

"I was thinking about maybe trying to defeat the Tough contest next," she said. "I've already got the Cute contest wrapped around my little finger, and I want Beautifly to be recognized for her outstanding achievements, not relegated to a has been that wants her fame back. I was thinking about maybe going with my old Delcatty, but she's pretty happy with her family. I wouldn't want to drag her away for something silly like that..."

"Mightyena."

"What?"

"You should try a Mightyena," repeated TJ. "They're naturally tough, and they learn a variety of moves that make them fearsome opponents. And they're readily available, in Poochyena form. You should catch one on your way out of town. And you should discuss names with all three of your pokémon."

May took a moment to digest this information. "Oh, all right. I guess you have a good point there, Mightyena are very powerful. And they're so cute at the same time! But why," she said, "why do you think that I should talk with my pokémon about naming them?"

"Because," said TJ, "well, two reasons. First off, you don't really _own_ those two, at least in my opinion. If one of them didn't want to be with you and travel with you, you would have to force them to do most of the things you want them to. Those two are still here because they're _family_. They may not have been born of a union between your father and mother, but they're still members of the family and should be treated as such. And second," he continued, "how would you feel if your mother had named you 'Girl'? It seems to me that names distinguish us, and show love, concern, and considerate thought. It says 'hey you! Yeah you! This here is Darling Maple, and that there is Charfist Maple! They're a part of my family!' See what I'm talking about?"

"Charfist? _Darling?_"

"They were examples! You get the idea."

"Well, yeah, I guess." said May. She thought for a moment. "Hey! What about your guys! Have you thought about names for them?"

"Sure," TJ answered. He pointed to Mudkip, who was running far ahead of them. "That there's Skipper, because he's always out in front, trying to steer us and chart our course." He pointed to Treecko, who was jogging to keep up with Skipper, and managed to catch up in time to prevent him from getting tangled in some vines. "That's Ranger, because he's always looking out for our safety, especially Skipper's safety."

"Why especially Skipper?"

"Skipper gets in more trouble than anyone else."

"Oh." May was silent for a moment. "What about Torchic?"

TJ shrugged. "We haven't decided on one. None of the names I suggested appealed to him, and I don't know enough about his true personality to suggest a better one."

"Well, what names did you suggest?"

"Oh, the usual...Butthead, Horse's Ass, Numbskull, etcetera etcetera."

May laughed. "No, really, what did you suggest?"

TJ looked at her seriously. "I wasn't joking."

May stared at him with a shocked look on her face. She turned to look at Torchic. "He's kidding, right?"

Torchic sniffed in an indignant manner.

May shot an accusing stare at TJ. "How could you suggest such demeaning names! You're horrible!"

TJ shrugged, then sighed. "Well, what do you expect? I named Skipper and Ranger based on aspects of their personalities, but all I've seen of Torchic's personality is his hunger and his temper with me. I literally could not think of something better!"

May opened her mouth to say something cutting, but whatever she would have said was lost to all time when someone shouted, "MAY!"

TJ and May turned to see a dust cloud traveling in their direction. Traveling quickly in their direction. As it neared it cleared up enough for them to see a woman running towards them at full speed. "May!" she yelled again. Then she was there.

"May! You're all right! Oh, you had me so scared! Don't you ever do that again! I love you so much!"

May struggled out of her mother's arms. "Mo_om_," she groaned.

May's mother glanced at TJ and straightened up. "Oh dear, I'm so sorry for that. I didn't mean to cause a scene, but I was so very worried that my emotions overcame my sense." She straightened her rumpled skirt. "You must be TJ. I'm May's mother, Caroline. It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

TJ shook Caroline Maple's hand. "The pleasure is all mine, Ma'am."

May felt a little surge of jealousy. TJ was flirting with her mother! _Calm down girl,_ she thought,_ he's just trying to charm her. It means he's nervous and wants to make a good impression._

"So what are your plans for the rest of the day?" asked Caroline.

May perked up. "Oh, could he come over for dinner mom? Please? Pretty pretty please?"

"Actually," piped up TJ, "I was planning on eating dinner at home and going to bed early. That way we can get an early start."

May felt like her stomach was lined with lead. _Don't jump to conclusions,_ she thought to herself. "Early start on what?"

"My travels! I have a long way to go before I can participate in the league championship!"

May's stomach no longer felt lead lined, it had disappeared completely.

"I was thinking of maybe starting tonight, but I figured it's asking a bit much of the guys to start out at night, in the cold, and the dark," continued TJ. "Besides, why short ourselves on our last chance to sleep in a real bed just so we can shave off a few minutes?"

At this point TJ noticed the look on May's face. She appeared ready to break down and cry. He was concerned. "What's wrong?"

May's lip trembled for a moment, and tears welled up in her eyes. TJ walked over and encircled her shoulders. "Hey, c'mon, you can tell me."

"FINE!" May burst out. She shrugged out of TJ's embrace and ran over to her mother. "FINE, JUST LEAVE! JUST TAKE OFF AND FORGET ABOUT ME!"

TJ was flustered. "What? What are you talking about!"

Tears were now streaming down May's face. "WHAT AM I TALKING ABOUT? YOU! YOU AND YOUR STUPID PLAN, THAT'S WHAT! JUST TAKING OFF ON ME!"

"But I had it planned already! I would have left two days ago if you hadn't shown up!"

"SO! YOU'RE WALKING OUT NOW! RUNNING AWAY! AND JUST WHEN I WAS MAYBE FALLING IN-" May bit off her sentence and ran down the road crying.

There was awkward silence for a moment. Then TJ turned to Caroline. "I had my journey all planned out...I told her I was going to leave! Why is she so upset? I was already going to leave! What did I do wrong!"

Caroline shook her head. "You'll have to figure that out on your own, dear. I won't run your relationship for you. But I suggest you talk with May about it."

Caroline turned around and headed home. TJ stared after her blankly, then turned to Skipper, Ranger, and Torchic. He shook his head in a confused manner. "What did I do wrong?"

Blank stares answered him.

OOOOOOOO

May lay on her bed. Her face was red from tears, but she had no more to cry. She felt empty inside. How could he do this? Weren't they connecting? Wasn't something starting between them? What was going on!

There was a gentle knock at her bedroom door, and she quickly wiped her face and blew her nose. "Come in."

Caroline walked in and sat down on her bed. "How's my little girl?"

Her tone of voice was tender, but it irritated May all the same. "How the hell do you think I feel? I fell for some kind stranger like an _idiot_, and now he's leaving and I'm never going to see him again. I feel like crap, mother."

There was awkward silence for a while. Finally Caroline spoke. "How do you know you're never going to see him again?"

"Because he's _leaving_! Why would he come back?"

"For you?"

"For _me_! Why would he come back for me? He doesn't care enough to stick around in the first place!"

"You don't know that..."

"Well, why isn't he staying then?"

"Well," said Caroline, "I don't know, but he appeared very confused. And honestly, he has a point, after all he was planning on leaving two days ago."

"But if he really cared about me, he'd stay with me."

"Well, maybe he does care about you."

"Then why won't he _stay_?"

"Well, maybe he doesn't know _you_ care about _him_."

May mulled this over for several minutes. "But I've been so _obvious_! How can he not know?"

Caroline smiled. "Obvious isn't enough sometimes. You need to just come out and tell him."

And with that, she stood up and left the room, leaving May with her thoughts.

OOOOOOOO

TJ picked up his pack and strode across the living room. His parents were due in four hours, the front door was locked. There was nothing left to do.

"Hey," he hollered, "Hurry up! We ain't got all day!"

He walked onto the porch. Outside several Taillow were flitting around in the meadow. He saw a few Wingull floating in the sky. The day was comfortably warm, and the sky was cloudless. It couldn't have been a better day, a more perfect day to leave, and TJ was wondering why he was so depressed despite it.

_I just don't get it,_ he thought. He had meditated multiple times on his conversation with May yesterday, and he still couldn't understand it. _I was planning on going,_ he thought, _she knew that! Why is she so upset?_

He snorted at himself. "Well, I could always offer to bring her along," he said aloud.

"Is that a genuine offer?"

TJ jumped. Sitting on one of his deck chairs, May was quietly regarding him. "Uh, May! Hi!"

May smiled wanly and stood. She walked over to TJ and wrapped her arms around his neck.

And then she kissed him full on the lips.

It was a long kiss, lasting at least ten minutes. Somewhere between start and finish, TJ stopped caring about his shock and just gave in to it. For ten short minutes, the world held its breath while two teens kissed.

After what seemed entirely too short of a time to TJ, they broke it off. There was awkward silence while TJ and May stared at each other. The silence dragged on. Finally TJ said, "how long would you be willing to spend on the ocean?"

May was understandably taken aback by this question. "What?"

TJ repeated himself.

"Uhhhhmm, I don't know, a week?"

TJ smiled sadly. "A week is Rustboro to Dewford Island. From Lilycove or Slateport, it's about a month, give or take three days or so."

May stared at him. "So?"

"_Soooo,_ I'm going to be at sea for that long. I couldn't possibly ask you to bear with me for that period of time. The offer was genuine, but I have places to go and things to do."

May's face fell. "Why?" she half-sobbed.

TJ sighed. "Because," he said, "because I need to do this. _We_ need to do this! The guys and I, we are half people right now. We need to get out there and follow the yearning of our hearts so that we can earn some peace! Peace of mind!" He shook his head. "Look, May, I would love nothing more than to stay here with you forever. But if I stay, I'll end up in the same dead end position I was in before! I'll be miserable and I'll always wonder if things would have been different if I had gone!" May sniffled. TJ embraced her gently, then held her at arm's length and looked straight into her eyes. "Look, this is something I _have_ to do. I can't be the man you need me to be until I've gone on this trip. Can you understand that?"

May was silent for a very long time. Finally she nodded. "Go," she said, "before I change my mind."

"Chick..."

TJ looked sideways to see the guys standing at the ready. He sighed. "I guess it's time."

He picked up his bag and his bat. Turning to face the mountains, the rising sun to his right, he sighed heavily. "C'mon guys, time to go."

He started walking, the pokémon following him. He made it about twenty yards away, then turned to face May. "I hope I'll see you in Verdanturf!"

May looked up, perplexed. "What's in Verdenturf?" She tried to hide her tears.

TJ laughed. "The Normal Rank Contest house! Remember!"

May felt her stomach shift from her feet to her throat. A little kernel of hope began to glow within her. "You mean, you, you still want to see me?"

"Of course!"

And with that, TJ turned around and started walking again. For a moment May toyed with the idea of running after him, but her practical side won out over the impulse. There was packing to do, goodbyes to say, pokémon to make amends with, Contests to win. She had a lot to do. Already she was listing what to put in her bookbag, and making goals. Maybe she _would_ catch a Poochyena, and conquer the Tough contest. She felt alive like she hadn't in a long time.

Off in the distance, she could just barely make out TJ's silhouette through the rays of the rising sun. She smiled. _I may not be able to come with you right now,_ she thought, _but we haven't seen the last of each other. We'll find our happy ending, somewhere. In the meantime..._

And with that comforting thought, she went off to pack and get ready.

**A/N:** Whew! That was the chapter that just wouldn't die! Glad to finally finish that, I bet my loyal fans are too. Hard chappie, but a good one, lots of emotion. Cool. Anyway, next time, first battle, the guys bond, and Torchic gets a name! No, it's not Horse's Ass. 


	8. Getting Their Feet Wet

**Author's Note:**Wow! I bet you didn't expect to see me so soon! Just goes to show that I've still got it-I was beginning to feel insecure!

Reviews! First off, Liz, I appreciate the comments. It's really cool how you've stuck with this story, even though it's most likely taken you a time or two to figure out what I'm talking about. Actually, I've put a website on my Bio, that should help you. just go there and use the pokédex to find what you're looking for. Lunar Sphinx, thank you for your continued endorsement. You just keep coming back! And I still don't understand why! But nevermind that. PichuStar, I appreciate the encouragement. Your stories are fun to read, and I'm glad you feel the same about mine. Dannichu... I still wake up every now and then with Kadabra and Geraldine laughing at me in my dreams. It's wierd. Your stories are too much fun for words, and they always make me laugh. They're like Pokémon meets the Three Stooges, but they make less sense. Oh well, they're cool!

Anyways, this is a short chapter, but it's got some important stuff in it. Things like tactics, relationships, battles, and a very important name. So let's get started! Lights! Camera! Action!

Oh yeah, this is a TJ chapter, but May has a part at the end. I believe you'll be able to tell the difference. And this is also the first chapter where the Pokémon will begin to narrate.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokémon, Houenn, May, or any derivitave thereof. I do own  
my character TJ.

**Note:  
**"Speaking"  
_Thinking_  
Pokéspeak  
Psychic conversations  
**Flashbacks  
**SHOUTING!

**Chapter Eight:  
Getting Their Feet Wet**

TJ was really fairly good about the whole matter. He waited until he was forty minutes away from town, then he shouted at the top of his lungs. Skipper jumped fifteen feet in the air, and fell flat on his face. Ranger shook his head, strode over and righted him, and continued to walk.

Torchic shivered in annoyance, then ruffled his feathers. He and TJ still didn't know where they fit into the scheme of things. Obviously they loved each other, liked each other, razzed each other. But they didn't know where they stood within the family and with each other. Relations between the two were strained. It made Torchic uncomfortable just thinking about it.

Discomfort, however, wasn't enough to make him pass up a free ride. So when TJ had offered him "shotgun", also known as his shoulder, Torchic had hopped up without a seconds' hesitation and had gently dug his claws into TJ's shirt. He was now perched, eyes wide, effectively functioning as a crow's nest. Skipper was far ahead, as usual, and Ranger was right behind him, also as usual. Off to the left, about ten o'clock, a small group of Taillow were scratching around for Wurmple and berries. Torchic dismissed them; they were far too fast, and would fly away long before any of the Kanes could reach them. Here and there Wurmple munched on leaves, but Torchic forcefully ignored them. He was no more interested in climbing trees to battle than anyone else was.

OOOOOOOO

Far ahead, Skipper was jogging along merrily. He didn't understand why Ranger was so fussy, he was fine! He was having the time of his life! Everything was new and wonderful-Skipper had a new lease on life and he intended to squeeze every last cent from it. He was so happy to be outside, free, LOVED, that he almost missed the berry. Fortunately, his acute sense of smell alerted him to its presence, an overly large Pecha berry sitting about twenty-five yards to the side of the road. He didn't think twice, he just headed straight for the berry.

Ranger groaned inwardly. His nose was far more sensitive than Skipper's. He had picked up the scent of the berry...and the scent of its owner. He dashed off to keep Skipper from eating it, but Skipper had just as much of a bottomless pit as Torchic did. Ranger was too late. He snarled aloud.

"What? What did I do wrong?"

"Shush!" Ranger hissed forcefully. "Cover my back, there's something coming."

"Huh?"

"Cover my back!"

Ranger should have seen it coming, but he was a little preoccupied. Skipper tackled him for all he was worth. Ranger grunted angrily. "_What was that for!_"

"You said to cover your back, so I did! I'm right on top of it!"

Ranger growled. "You idiot, I said cover my back! As in, watch in the opposite direction!" Skipper looked confused. Ranger sighed. "For other _pokémon_?"

"Oohhh, I get it. Okay!"

OOOOOOOO

It was subtle, and Torchic almost didn't see it. His mood somewhere between annoyed bird and pissed-off fighter, he was scowling at the relatively barren fields, mentally kicking himself for avoiding the Taillow. Anything was better than just sitting on TJ's shoulder, waiting for something to happen. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a patch of grass swaying without any wind to sway it, and focused on it. Just when he had decided it was a fluke, it swayed again. Then whatever it was started moving, and Torchic was positive that it was stalking something. "TJ."

TJ stopped walking and looked at Torchic. "What?"

Torchic gestured. "Over there. Grass moving. Battle."

TJ nodded. "Kay...SKIPPER! RANGER!"

"YO!" Skipper popped up from the grass, about thirty feet from the unknown creature. The creature started slinking towards Skipper, and Torchic's gut twisted as he realized what it was stalking. "TJ..."

"I see it." TJ started jogging towards the spot where Skipper had popped up. "STAY WHERE YOU ARE! IS RANGER WITH YOU?" Skipper shouted his assent. "GOOD! TELL HIM TO WATCH OUT!"

Torchic nodded and turned his gaze back towards the two patches of swaying...waitta minute, two? No, wait, three... four... five... six... seven... "Uh, TJ?"

"Yeah?"

"Get your bat out."

TJ looked at him, confusion and a hint of worry on his face. "Why?"

Torchic surveyed the growing number of mysterious creatures who were steadily slinking up on Skipper and Ranger. "Cause you're gonna need it," he said.

He looked at the grass again, and clacked his beak unhappily. _I have a bad feeling about this..._

OOOOOOOO

Ranger's heart was pounding away on overload. While Skipper innocently stared at his half of their defensive circle, Ranger strained his six senses to locate their opponents. His sense of smell couldn't quite place what they were, which meant that he'd never seen one before. His ears could hear them sneaking up, but couldn't discern how many of them there were, or how big they were. His geosense was silent, so they weren't plants. That was all Ranger could figure out, and it wasn't enough. It was driving him crazy.

The rustling was getting louder. For a fleeting moment Ranger wondered if they could be negotiated with, perhaps a deal could be made? But his logical mind quickly dismissed that. He didn't know exactly how many there were out there, but there were enough to require more than one oversized Pecha berry for dinner. The berry wasn't dinner, it was bait to catch dinner. And it had reeled them in.

Off to his left, the grass rustled. Ranger instantly focused all his senses on a ninety-degree section, and he scanned intently for signs of life. In retrospect, he should have expected a pack of hunters to have a pack mentality, and attack commando-style, but it didn't occur to him until there was a snarl and a black form exploded from the grass behind him. Ranger's quick reflexes served him well, he managed to dodge the charge. But another black blur was already bearing down on Skipper. Ranger watched in slow motion as it slowly arced towards Skipper's exposed neck, and he knew without a shadow of a doubt that he couldn't stop it in time. Skipper squeaked in terror...

**KONG!**

Out of nowhere, TJ brought his bat flush onto the head of the thing. The creature yelped and collapsed at Ranger's feet, revealing itself to be a Poochyena. It twitched once and lay still, its breathing shallow. Torchic hopped down and formed one side of a triangle, with Skipper and Ranger aiding him and TJ in the middle.

TJ swung his bat in a circle. "Who wants a piece of this! Bring it!"

The pack of Poochyena slowly came into view. They were all keening, working themselves into a rage. They'd be dangerous in a minute.

"Hey! Pencildicks!" shouted Torchic. "Whatsa matter, get gyped by the gene pool? Aww, don't worry about it! No one wants your reject genetics anyway! Your pack's just a buncha pathetic losers! You couldn't take out a Spinarak! You suck!" He continued to rant, hopping about in place and puffing up his neck feathers.

Ranger looked askance at Torchic, and Skipper said, "have you gone totally _nuts_?" Torchic, however, was focused on TJ. TJ nodded.

As Torchic continued to taunt the pack, a curious thing occurred. Their anger was growing, expanding beyond rational thought, but they were reticent. Every time one of them tried to come closer, Torchic would increase in volume and focus on the individual, hopping over and shoving his beak in its face. Within minutes they were all severely confused.

All at once, the pack sat down. The force of their bottoms flattened the grass, and the Kanes could see their numbers, somewhere between fifteen and twenty-five. In unison they raised their snouts and howled keenly. Then they scooted back, flattening even more grass in the process. They scooted back until a loose circle was formed.

"Hah!" shouted Skipper. "Had enough boys!"

Torchic shook his head. His bad feeling had just intensified a hundredfold. He stopped taunting the pack.

Ranger swiveled his head to six o'clock. His sensitive hearing could just make out something crashing through the grass, something large. He grunted, then pointed in the direction of the sound. "Something's coming. That way."

In unison the Kanes spun their heads in the direction Ranger was pointing. It was faint at first, but the sound of grass parting and paws hitting dirt grew louder much too quickly for comfort. After about three minutes' waiting, there was a loud howl, and a large Mightyena jumped into the makeshift circle, growling.

"Easy guys," cautioned TJ, "he looks a _lot_ stronger than they are."

Skipper sniffed disdainfully. "He's running a local Poochyena pack... How strong can he be?" And with that he charged. "HIIIIIYAAAAAAAH!" Skipper's charge lasted right up until the Mightyena slapped him back with one paw. He rolled all the way to TJ's feet, stood up drunkenly, and mumbled, "okay, maybe he's stronger than we thought."

The Mightyena growled, and glared at them. He walked up to them menacingly, tail held high, teeth bared, back arched.

"Skipper! Mud Slap! Ranger! Pound!"

Skipper sprayed the dirt at his feet with water, then splashed the new-formed mud in Mightyena's direction. It hit him directly in the head, rocks and clumps of soil bouncing off and mud hitting his eyes. He howled and began vigorously rubbing his face against his leg to rid it of mud. Right on cue, Ranger came flying in and slammed him with his tail. Mightyena fell over, but rolled back up again. His eyes were still full of mud, but he was fighting mad. He growled and charged Skipper. Skipper braced himself for impact, but Mightyena veered at the last moment and rammed Ranger. Ranger went flying and landed on his head. He stood, unsteadily, and wobbled his way back to the party. Mightyena turned and opened wide, attempting to Bite Skipper...

"Torchic! Scratch!"

from behind, Torchic leapt up and swiped at Mightyena with his feet. Shallow cuts appeared on his back, and Mightyena snarled in frustration.

"Skipper! Tackle!"

Skipper put his tiny weight into a full-body tackle. Mightyena shifted his stance, and Skipper missed. Before he had time to get back up, Mightyena clamped his teeth on Skipper's neck and shook sharply. Skipper squeaked in pain. Then Mightyena snapped his head to the side and released Skipper into the air. Skipper flew ten feet up, then came down to TJ's left.

"SKIPPER!"

TJ dashed to where Skipper lay and checked his vitals. He was still breathing, but out cold. He might have something broken. "Wrap it up guys! Skipper's hurt!"

Ranger snarled. Damn it, Skipper was his little brother! HIS responsibility! He charged at Mightyena. Mightyena swiped at him, but at the last second Ranger leapt over the paw and rolled underneath him. Landing on his back, he shot both feet straight up into Mightyena's diaphragm, causing him to huff and kneel down, wheezing for breath.

"Torchic! Ember!"

Torchic spewed small flames from his mouth, setting Mightyena's fur to smouldering. Mightyena wheezed a snarl, caught his breath, and stomped down hard on Ranger. Stoic to the end, Ranger merely grunted and struggled for a moment, then passed out from exhaustion. Mightyena snorted, then sprang over to Torchic and clamped his jaws down on his neck.

Torchic struggled to escape from Mightyena's sharp teeth and iron jaws. Outside, TJ was shouting something, but he couldn't hear it. With Mightyena's jaws squeezing his neck, it was getting hard to breathe. He was beginning to black out. No! It couldn't end like this! he dug his feet into Mightyena's lips, clenched his toes, and kicked. _Hard_.

Mightyena yelped. Torchic took the opportunity to escape from his mouth, and landed on his feet, wheezing. Blood was running down his neck from several moderately serious wounds, and he was having a hard time standing.

"TORCHIC! RETREAT!" shouted TJ.

Torchic shook his head violently. He could finish this! He wasn't going to give up! This was HIS battle! "NO WAY! I CAN TAKE HIM!"

TJ was about to order him to forget it when he noticed the look in his eyes. Torchic may have been a low level fire type, able to spew out only embers and cinders, but the fire burning in his eyes was hot enough to incinerate the sun itself. He wasn't going to stop fighting until he won or he died. He was a fighter, just like TJ had become.

"Okay," TJ sighed. "Take him out."

Torchic nodded sharply. He could do this! ...now if only he knew how! Mightyena was starting to calm down about the deep gashes in his mouth, was starting to get angry and focus on Torchic. Torchic had no idea what to do. His flames were too small and ineffective to burn such a hairy creature. If he could burn some unprotected flesh it might be enough to scare him off, but he didn't have any unprotected flesh. Well, except for one spot, but that was impossible to reach unless...

Unfortunately, Mightyena didn't give Torchic time to plan with TJ. Snarling loudly, he leapt towards Torchic, jaws open wide. Torchic did the only thing he could think of: he inhaled deeply.

Mightyena's snout clamped down hard on Torchic's neck. TJ cried out; there was no way Torchic could survive another round of strangling. At first his fears seemed confirmed, as Torchic's struggles became weaker and weaker. But suddenly, about a minute after biting, Mightyena's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. His muzzle convulsed with pain, and a few wisps of smoke escaped. He tried to spit Torchic out, but discovered that the little fire type had clamped himself to his jaws. He howled in pain and misery, and began panting shallowly. With his mouth open wider, more smoke poured out, and the glimmering of dozens of little fiery embers could be seen as the danced in his mouth and poured down his throat. Finally, Mightyena shook his head from side to side, trying to rid himself of the fiery pest. It took a good two minutes, but he managed to dislodge Torchic. He clamped his jaws shut, but not before TJ saw the myriad burns that littered his tongue. Howling quickly, he dashed off into the grass. The pack of Poochyena rumbled nervously. Then TJ stood with his bat held high. "You wanna run that little fiasco through AGAIN!" he shouted. The Poochyena eyed his bat. One yelped and ran. Like a dam breaking, the rest of the pack scrambled to get away.

TJ's mind barely registered the retreating wolves. His attention was focused on Torchic, who lay five feet away. TJ dashed over and knelt on the ground, examining him. He had some serious wounds on his neck, and they would need to be cleaned and bandaged, but he was still breathing, and still conscious. TJ was amazed that he had survived. He sighed with relief, and pulled out the materials needed to heal him.

OOOOOOOO

Skipper and Ranger were bickering about being careful. Ranger had woken up five minutes after the pack left, and Skipper had come to shortly after TJ finished bandaging Torchic. Miraculously, he had gotten away with just a nasty bruise on his neck. No one said it, but they all knew he could have been savaged like Torchic had been.

Skipper suddenly darted off to the side of the road. In unison, TJ and Ranger shouted, "SKIPPER! GET BACK HERE!"

Skipper reappeared. "What?"

"Dang it! That's what I've been talking about!" cried Ranger. "You can't just wander off! You need to stick with us, and check with me and TJ before doing anything! Otherwise we'll just get into trouble again!"

"But-"

"No buts! This is not a discussion, it's a lecture! You need to _listen_ to me! Or you'll end up getting yourself hurt! And maybe someone else too! Like Torchi-" Ranger cut himself off, and he and Skipper looked up at Torchic.

Torchic was sitting inside TJ's pack. He had bandages all over his neck, and his eyes were closed. It looked like it hurt him to breathe.

TJ shook his head. "Okay guys, enough. First off, Skipper, I understand that you want to explore and run and enjoy life. But your carefree attitude got us into serious trouble, and almost killed Torchic. You need to exercise a lot more caution when you're running around. I think you need to stick by me for a while." He sighed, and sat on a nearby rock. "Second off: Ranger, lay off him. You've made your point, and you've gotten his mistake across to him. I know that I told you that you need to point out mistakes to your brothers, but you make them too. Now is the time to exercise one of the most awe inspiring qualities of God: forgiveness. Let the past be in the past, and forgive Skipper for his foolishness. And third off," TJ reached around and pulled Torchic from his pack. He set him on the ground before his feet, and looked him directly in the eye. "Torchic, you and I have had our disagreements in the past. Food seems to come between our friendship a lot. We haven't been the closest of family. For a while that frustrated me. I felt that I was failing you as a friend, a brother, a leader. But now I understand that we were fighting because we're a lot alike. We both have fiery determination, we both refuse to back down from a fight, we both believe in love and justice and all that is good. Torchic, you are a warrior, just like me. By your actions today you have proven that beyond a doubt. You are a warrior at heart, you are a warrior in deed, and from this point forward, as Skipper and Ranger are my witnesses," he gestured tothe two, who nodded subtlely, "you are a Warrior in name."

A hushed silence descended. To the Kanes, it felt like destiny had been foretold. Skipper and Ranger felt the same awe and joyous disbelief as when their own names had been given. Warrior felt tears of joy prickling at his eyes from the praise that TJ had just given him. And TJ felt a sense of greatness. They were destined to do great things, and now that they were all one big family, nothing could stand in their way.

Finally, TJ picked up Warrior and slipped him back in the pack. Standing abruptly, he said, "C'mon guys, let's get going."

And with that the four set off towards the North, heading towards their future.

OOOOOOOO

"Ooooff!"

May pushed herself to her feet as Sunkis't fluttered over and chittered concernedly. Brushing her knees off, May looked down to see what had tripped her.

Lying out of sight in the grass, a Poochyena was sprawled, out cold. His leg stuck out into the road.

"Ohhhh, you poor thing!" gushed May. "Hmm, we'll have to get you to a Pokémon center!" May felt terrible for the poor little wolf with the large lump on his head. She thought and thought, but came back to the same conclusion every time. Finally she shrugged her shoulders. "Oh well, it was on my to-do list anyway..." and she threw a pokéball at the little ball of fur.

It was no contest. The ball didn't even shake, it just flashed the stable light. May picked it up. "C'mon buddy! Let's get you fixed up!" She started walking down the road. Sunkis't landed on her shoulder. "What do you think, Sunkis't? What should we name him?" Sunkis't thought for a moment, then nodded towards the sun. "Sunlight? You want me to name a Poochyena _sunlight_?" Sunkis't shook her head violently, then lay down on May's shoulder and pantomimed sleeping. "Hmm, good idea! Let's call him Midnight!"

Sunkis't chittered excitedly as they walked down the road.

**A/N:** Wow! That turned out a lot longer than I expected! Oh well, I'm happy with the result. The next update may be a while, as I'm moving to an apartment in Denver and I won't have frequent access to a computer. But don't worry, I'll try to update as soon as possible! Until next time, Ciao!

**P.S:** Contest! I named most of the attacks used in this chapter, but I left out two! So here's the deal: My author page now has my e-mail viewable. The first person to send me an e-mail with the correct name of the attack and the pokémon who used it get to have a cameo appearance in a later chapter! And the best part is, I'm doing it for _both moves_! So study the descriptions of the battle and get crackin' Sherlock!


	9. Oldale Arrival

**Author's Note:** Finally! Finally I updated! Can you hear the chorus of Angels? It's a miracle!

Ha. Sorry. Anyway, I am _so so_ sorry about the long wait. My life has been busy, what with moving,quitting my old job, going back to school, and getting a new job. It's no wonder I took so long to get this blasted chapter up! I'm also working on some other projects, including a spin off from this series, and they have been more in the forefront of my mind lately, so I've kind of ignored this story. I'm sorry! But I'm back on track now, and schedule willing (I'm running 14-hour days: 5 hours of school, 1 hour lunch, 5 hours of work, 1 hour of homework and 2 hours of studying), I will get this story finished! All 42+ chapters!

I also want to mention something that my friend and reviewer pointed out to me. Starting in Chapter 8, Skipper, Ranger, and Warrior have been conversing with TJ in English wheras before they only spoke Pokèspeak. They have not suddenly mutated into Preteen Mutant Ninja Pokèmon. What is happening is that TJ, being highly adept at picking up social cues and body language thanks to his total lack of popularity, is able to slowly decipher the way a specific person communicates. Over time he can read the hidden meanings behind what a person is saying, so that given enough time around such a person it is very hard to lie to him. This ability has been focused on Skipper, Ranger and Warrior. Having spent so much time with the three, he has deciphered pitch, body language and social cues to understand what they are saying. It's similar to what Ash and Pikachu do, but the Kanes do it to a much greater degree of accuracy; Pikachu never told a joke to Ash, or got into an argument. I hope I've cleared that up for everyone.

And as a little side note, KFP is my attempt to cleverly mock Kentucky Fried Chicken. It stands for Kanto Fried Pidgey.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, Houenn, May, or any derivitave thereof. I do own  
my character TJ. **

**Note:  
**"Speaking"  
_Thinking_  
Pokéspeak  
**Psychic conversations  
Flashbacks  
**SHOUTING!

**Chapter 9:**

**Oldale Arrival**

A flock of Taillow passed over a strip of forested river and angled towards the setting sun. Skimming the fields and roads the flock widened, and then scattered as they reached Oldale. The leader hovered for a moment, surveying his realm, then lazily circled down to his trainer's home at the edge of town. Alighting on the roof, he gazed into the sun. The last light of the day set the house in sharp profile, the shadow reaching to the southern gate. And through that gate strolled the Kanes.

OOOOOOOO

"Are we there yet?"

TJ sighed. "Skipper, how long has it been since you asked that question?"

Skipper thought for a moment. "Umm, a while?"

"Twenty-five seconds, Skipper," said TJ dryly. "And how many times have you asked?"

"I dunno, a few?"

"About six hundred times, Skipper. That's a lot. Do you really think asking it again is going to cause Oldale to just suddenly appear?"

"Umm, no? I mean yes? Is that a trick question? Are we there _yet_?"

"Skipper! Did you-"

"We're here," said Ranger.

"What?"

"I said, we're here."

"Whoa," said Skipper, "I can't believe that worked!"

And he dashed off into Oldale. Ranger sighed wearily and trotted off after him.

Warrior, still perched on TJ's shoulder, smiled. "Kinda makes you miss our breakfast arguments, doesn't it?"

TJ shook his head. "Amazingly, yes! I don't understand this at all, he was so shy all the time we were at the house, quiet and peaceful. And now he's just like a five-year-old on the day after Halloween!"

"What's Halloween?"

"Oh, uh, it's a holiday back home. Lots of symbolism, but the gist is you dress up in a costume, go door to door, and people give you candy."

"_Candy?_ You'll have to take us sometime!"

"You! Trick or Treating! That's the last thing I need, you gorging yourself until you're sick, Skipper becoming more energetic than a hydrogen atom, and Ranger…well, I don't know what would happen to Ranger, but if he starts acting like a living being as opposed to the green hockey stick he is now, it'd throw our whole family dynamic off! No way, I am _not_ taking you three trick or treating."

"Awww! But just think about how _good_ it would be for our rehab! Officer Jenny said we were supposed to be acclimated to human companionship! I think it's a good idea!"

"_You_ think with an organ other than your brain, Warrior. I know _exactly_ why you think it's a good idea."

"Oh YEAH?" snarled Warrior, "well at least _I_ don't babble like an idiot around a certain someone!"

"I did not BABBLE LIKE AN IDIOT, Warrior! I was perfectly fine around May!"

"Hahahahaha!" Chirps of laughter floated down from out of nowhere. Instantly TJ and Warrior stopped fighting and tried to find its source. "Who's there," called Warrior.

A little Taillow fluttered down from the rooftop of a nearby house and perched on a fencepost. He chuckled snidely. "Seems you're a bit confused little chick! Barking insults at your trainer like that, you might just get ideas not fit for your station."

Warrior bristled. "Little chick? Who the hell are you to talk! _You're_ so scrawny KFP wouldn't buy you for decoration! What d'you mean ideas above my station!"

"Young upstart! I run the Taillow of this town! You can't talk to me that way!" The Taillow seemed upset by Warrior's insult. "You think that he's your friend, but in reality we're all just here to get ahead, and no one who wants to get ahead can have friends!"

"Hey!" said TJ, "Warrior _is_ my friend, and you're wrong. We're family, and we're going straight to the top! And I don't give a rattata's ass if you do run the Taillow of this town, you're getting on my nerves! Buzz off!"

The Taillow stared at the two for a few minutes, and then fell off his fence post, howling with laughter. "You two, straight to the top! Well, that makes you sound just like every other goldeenhorn who comes through this town! The only difference is you're a whole lot dumber! Hahahahahahahahaha! Hell, I bet you couldn't even take me down right now, what with that bandage and all!"

TJ and Warrior glared. The Taillow noticed and fluttered back up to his fence post. Something horrible might have happened at that moment, but fate intervened.

"Feathers! Suppertime!"

The Taillow looked behind him, then turned back to TJ and Warrior. "Lucky for you I prefer eating to fighting. See you around, Magikarp brains. Have fun finding your way around town in the dark!"

Starting, TJ looked up to see that it _was _dark, almost nighttime, and they were very lost. He and Warrior exchanged nervous looks and spun around, looking for the Pokĕmon Center.

"Skipper? Ranger? Where are you!"

"Kaz! Kaz, come on! It's getting late!"

"Hello? Someone else out there?"

At that moment the light sensors in the streetlamps flickered the bulbs on. Standing beneath one of them was a tall teenager, about sixteen. She had dark brown hair, green eyes, and was wearing a rather strange ensemble: a magenta tank-top, denim jacket, jean skirt, a pair of leather boots, fingerless gloves, and a phoenix-charm silver necklace. She also had on a headband with two feathers that radiated slightly. They might have been gold. She had two belts, one for her Pokĕballs and one for her other items. She spared the two of them a perfunctory glance and began scanning the night.

TJ shot Warrior an askance look, and was answered with a confused shrug. He strode up to the girl. "Excuse me miss..." He waited for her to acknowledge him. She continued to search, completely ignoring their presence. TJ cleared his throat. "Umm, excuse me miss. Miss? Miss? Ah, excuse me! Hey! Are you listening to me? HEY! _EXCUSE_ ME, LADY! I'M TRYING TO TALK TO YOU! HELLO! ANYBODY HOME!"

The girl sighed impatiently. "Yes, I can hear you. What do you want?"

"Jirachi H. Celebi, lady! It's rude to ignore someone when they're talking! I just wanted to ask you directions! Is _everyone_ in this town _completely_ shucked up?"

"_What?_ _WHAT_ did you call me?"

"you heard perfectly well what I called you, and I-what!"

Warrior leaned close to TJ's ear. "We've had a long day, and we're all tired. I think we should just get directions and go to the Pokĕmon center. There's no need to pick a fight with someone right now. Just calm down man."

TJ took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Warrior was right, he did need to calm down, get food and rest. He'd be better in the morning. "Look," he said, "I'm sorry about what I said to you. It's been a long day, our welcome in this town has been arctic, and we got separated from the other half of our crew. I just want to find the rest of my family and get to the Pokĕmon center, and I let my anger get the better of me. I'm sorry. Could you give us directions?"

The girl still seemed a bit angry. "I'm a little busy right now, ask me later."

"What? Come on! It'll take you five minutes at best! What could _possibly_ be so important as to preempt us?"

The girl glared. "For your _information_," she spat acidly, "I'm trying to find my Mightyena, Kaz. He left this morning, and hasn't come back since. So if you'll _excuse_ me, I'm a little _busy!_" and with that she spun around and continued to scan the night.

"Oh wow, I'm sorry," said TJ. "I had no idea—Is there anything we can do to help?"

"I doubt it."

TJ thought for a moment. "Warrior?"

"Yo!"

"How wide can you spread your Ember?"

Warrior grinned. "Pretty wide. Heads up!"

"Hey lady."

"What?"

"Duck."

The girl ducked just in time to avoid Warrior's Ember attack. Like a fire-eater at a circus, Warrior tensed his beak so that his embers scattered in a wide pattern across the road. Before their light died, they revealed a set of tracks heading North by Northeast.

"There!" cried the girl. "Light up that section of road again!"

Warrior spewed Embers again, this time focusing on the particular portion of road that contained the tracks. Looking at them, TJ and Warrior readily identified some of them as Mightyena tracks thanks to the previous encounter that afternoon, and the others quite clearly as Mudkip and Treecko.

"There, you see? We did help. I'll bet anything that those tracks belong to your Kaz."

"You're probably right!" said the girl. "And they lead straight towards the Pokĕmon Center! Oh no, he's probably hurt, I have to get there right away!"

"Mind if we follow you? That is our destination, after all. And I'm hoping my other two brothers will be there."

"Oh, of course not! Thank you so much, I'm sorry I yelled at you."

"No problem," said TJ. "By the way, My name's TJ. TJ Kane. The spirited little fire turkey sitting on my shoulder is Warrior Kane. It's a pleasure to meet you." TJ held out his hand.

The girl regarded his hand for a moment, then grabbed it and shook vigorously. "The pleasure's all mine. I'm Samantha McPhoenix, at your service."

TJ smiled. Samantha smiled. Then the two of them laughed.

"I am _not_ a fire turkey," whined Warrior quietly.

OOOOOOOO

The three of them arrived at the Pokèmon Center several minutes later. To the Kanes' great delight, Skipper and Ranger _were_ there. Nurse Joy looked at Warrior's neck and pronounced that TJ's nursing skills were superb, and would he be interested in a job? And to Samantha's great delight, Kaz the Mightyena was there as well.

"Crawled in here shortly after you left," said Nurse Joy. "Not in horrible shape, but he had some terrible injuries. _Strange_, if you ask me. Never seen anything like them."

"Oh no!" moaned Samantha, "is he all right? Will he recover? Can I see him?"

"Oh, he'll be just fine," assured Nurse Joy. "His injuries aren't life-threatening. But you won't be able to see him for a few hours. He needs to rest right now, let the medicine do its job."

"Well then, I'll stay right here until he's well enough to leave. And maybe I can get some answers out of him as to what happened."

"Well, as near as I can tell he drank something that had a high acid content in it, because his mouth and throat are badly burned. He was drooling blood when he came in, but I covered his mouth in an antiseptic salve that should coat it and speed up the healing process. You can ask him what happened tomorrow."

"How soon will he be well enough to leave?"

"Tomorrow."

"What about tonight?"

Nurse Joy sighed wearily. "If you insist, you can pick him up at ten o'clock, and not a minute sooner. And you would do so under protest from me."

"How's eleven work?"

"Miss McPhoenix! I _do_ have to sleep sometime! How will I check you out at eleven P.M. if I'm _sound asleep in bed!_"

"Hey," jumped in TJ, "I can check her out."

The two women looked at him as if he had just announced he had a Clefable growing out his rear. "You can _what?_" asked Nurse Joy.

"I can check her out. I used to be Professor Birch's Aide, I'm familiar with the Pokèmon Center software that you run. I'll help Samantha as repayment for helping me find this place, she'll get her Pokèmon back as soon as possible so that she's not worried, and you get to sleep. Everybody's happy. What do you say?"

"Ahh, well, you see, I, um," Nurse Joy hemmed and hawed. "It's against procedure, you see, but I, well, you _do_ seem like a decent person, helping her find her Mightyena like that, but I really shouldn't…" In truth Joy desperately wanted to just go to sleep. It was making her cranky and callous, and she could tell, but she was _so_ tired. Yet she felt for the girl, she really did. How many trainers like her did she see daily, worried silly about their friends, sometimes the only friends they had? And the boy did seem to be honest, if their story was to be believed…She was too tired to deal with this. Nurse Joy made a snap decision. "All right, I'll let you check her out. But I want your trainer ID's, just in case."

"Sounds good to me."

"Fine."

OOOOOOOO

TJ and Warrior moseyed on towards the Cafeteria. They had invited Samantha, but she had declined. "I want to be here in case anything happens," she said.

As soon as they walked into the table-filled room, Warrior perked up. "I smell _food!_" he cried.

"Hey! 'Bout time you showed up! I was about to eat your share!" shouted Skipper.

"Touch my food and you're _dead!_" answered Warrior. He hopped off TJ's shoulder and scrabbled over to the table where Ranger and Skipper sat. TJ followed.

As soon as Warrior arrived he began wolfing down food. There were four plates set out, and each seemed to be covered with some sort of casserole or thick stew, involving tofu chunks and meatless chili. TJ sat down and spooned some into his mouth, grimacing slightly at the taste. He had always hated tofu. Next to him Skipper devoured his plate with almost as much gusto as Warrior was. Ranger, however, hadn't touched his plate. TJ noticed this and started to worry. "You feeling okay, Ranger?" he asked.

"Actually, my foot really hurts," he said nonchalantly. But as he said it, he looked up at TJ and stared intensely into his eyes. Instantly TJ knew Ranger's foot was fine, and he needed to talk. "Really? Well, we need to take care of that! Did you manage to get us a room here?" Ranger had been given TJ's account number and a signed note that explained the situation to whomever it concerned; he often managed to set up financial situations long before TJ got involved.

"Yes," he answered, "I can show you where it is."

"Excellent," said TJ. Turning, he addressed Skipper and Warrior. "Guys, I'm going to the room and try and take care of Ranger. Warrior, stay put until Skipper is done, then follow him back to the room. Okay?"

The two Pokèmon didn't even look up, simply nodded from their face first positions.

"Right then." TJ scooped up Ranger and hurried to the room. "All right, what's up?"

Ranger sat down on the bed. "We got here at about five five-thirty," he began. "Don't ask me how I convinced Skipper to come here, I may need to use it again. Anyway, when we got here, there was a girl with dark brown hair and green eyes, wearing a magenta tank-top, denim jacket, jean skirt, a pair of leather boots, and fingerless gloves. Her name was-"

"Samantha McPhoenix!" interjected TJ. "Yeah, she was worried about her Mightyena! We ran across her on the way here, she helped us to get here! What about her?"

Ranger shifted uncomfortably. "Well, right after she left, her missing Mightyena showed up. Lucky for us Skipper was already in the room and I was sitting in an out of the way corner. This guy was beat up pretty bad inside. He was drooling blood, and even breathing seemed hard for him. I didn't get much of a look, because the nurse rushed him into the ER, but I got enough of one. The nurse said he drank some acid, but I know for a fact he didn't."

"What?" said TJ, "how do you know?"

"He was burned, all right, but not by acid," said Ranger. "He was burned by fire, lots of little fires going off in his mouth and rushing down his throat. I saw his face right as he was about to ram me this afternoon. That Mightyena was burned by Warrior."

TJ felt a very large lump in his stomach, and he realized he wouldn't be finishing his dinner tonight.

OOOOOOOO

Samantha was still sitting there waiting when he walked in. It was ten minutes to eleven, and the boys were still in the Cafeteria eating. Well, Skipper and Warrior were eating. Ranger was keeping an eye on Skipper to make sure he didn't go anywhere. TJ logged onto the system and brought up Samantha's trainer ID. "All right, you're all checked out. Kaz is in room 215, you can go back and pick him up. See you around."

"What?" said a surprised Samantha, "I thought you were staying here tonight?"

"I am," said TJ, "but the guys like to be early to bed and early to rise, and I'm actually pretty tired what with the day I had, so we're just gonna turn in and start early tomorrow. We're probably not even going in the same direction as you. So I guess we'll see you around sometime, huh?"

"Yeah, um, sure…" trailed off Samantha, obviously confused. TJ did not elaborate, he simply turned around and headed towards the Cafeteria. Samantha watched him leave, then shook her head and walked down the hall to the OR.

As soon as TJ walked into the Cafeteria, he was accosted by Ranger. "I tried to stop him, but he's just so darn fast! I'm sorry TJ. He made it to the door!"

TJ didn't bother asking what had happened. "Where's Warrior!"

"Right here," said a voice. TJ turned to find Warrior standing behind him.

"I told Warrior what's going on," said Ranger.

"We have to find him," said TJ. "Before Kaz does. He's been cleared to leave, and he'll be walking out of the OR any minute now."

"Right," said the two Pokèmon.

They split up, careful to stay in the shadows. Warrior poked around the reception area, hiding in case Samantha and Kaz showed up. He had worked out a signal with TJ and Ranger in case anyone saw Skipper, three short whistles. He was about to check another part of the hospital when he heard something small coming down the hall to the rooms for rent. Skipper burst into the room laughing. Unfortunately, Samantha and Kaz chose that moment to walk through the OR doors. There was a moment of silence as Skipper locked eyes with the large Mightyena. The two just stared dumbly at each other, unable to process the fact that they were both there. The silence was broken by Warrior whistling three times. Kaz snarled and started sprinting down the hall. Skipper squeaked in fright and tried to climb into a potted plant to hide, but Kaz merely shattered the pot and started tearing through the dirt looking for him. Samantha seemed confused, but she didn't call Kaz off. Just as Kaz was about to reach Skipper, TJ and Ranger burst into the room from opposite ends of the hall. Ranger didn't slow, hopping up to Pound Kaz in the face. Kaz, not expecting the attack, flew back and stopped himself right in front of Warrior's hiding place. He turned to face the new threat, but was surprised by Warrior jumping down behind him and spewing Embers. Skipper unburied himself from the potting soil, and leapt up in front of Kaz, terrified but determined to defend his injured brother. Ranger closed the circle.

"Hang on Kaz!" cried Samantha. "TJ! What's going on!"

"Well, if everyone just calms down, I'll tell you!" TJ cried back. Kaz was pacing in a small circle, facing his opponents in turn. For their part, the three Kanes stood there, guarding.

"TJ! Call off Warrior! That Mudkip hurt Kaz!"

TJ shook his head. "I'm not gonna let you hurt any of my guys, and you're wrong. Skipper didn't do a damn thing to Kaz."

Samantha gasped. "That Mudkip belongs to _you!_" she didn't allow him to explain their relationship. "Then Warrior, he, he—TJ! What's going on! Why did you attack Kaz!"

"Easy! It was self defense!"

"Tauros shit! Kaz would only attack you if he was provoked!" and Samantha reached for her Pokèballs.

TJ had moments before she unleashed another overpowered psycho on his brothers. Shrugging off his trenchcoat in one fluid motion, he whipped out his bat and hit Samantha squarely on the back of the head. He was gentler than he could have been, but he still knocked her senseless. Unfortunately the Pokèball Samantha had been reaching for rolled out of her hand and burst open. The Kanes cringed, dreading what horror was about to be unleashed.

"Pichu!"

The Kanes relaxed a little as the small yellow electric rat stood up. Kaz started snarling at it, and TJ read his expressions.

"Pichu! Attack them! They hurt Samantha!"

The little Pichu's face took on a stormy cast. He started charging up some sort of electric attack the three Kanes had no hope of withstanding. TJ did the only thing he could think of. Taking four long strides, he walked over to where Samantha lay senseless. He raised his bat and shouted, "PICHU!"

The little Pichu turned around curiously. He noticed the stupid man standing over Samantha with a bat. It looked like the stupid man was about to hurt Samantha! He prepared to fry the mean stupid man.

"DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT YOU LITTLE YELLOW RAT! IN THE TWO SECONDS IT TAKES YOU TO KNOCK ME OUT, I'LL HAVE ENOUGH TIME TO SNAP HER NECK! STAND DOWN!"

"Chuuuuu…" Pichu and Kaz could have fried Spearow with their glares, but eventually they calmed down and just stood there, waiting for TJ to do something.

"All right," he panted, "All right. Kaz! You tried to kill us once today, and we beat you square. In fact we triumphed in the face of death _and _insurmountable odds. I think we deserve some congratulations, not to be attacked. You'd do the same thing if our positions were reversed. And while we're talking, why are you baiting travelers' Pokèmon with berries in the fields! It's not right, and we won't stand for it!" He panted for a few minutes, catching his breath. Everyone could feel the tension in the room. One false move and it would erupt.

"And Pichu," TJ continued, "your friend attacked us first. Yes, we hurt him dearly, but he hurt us dearly as well. Take a look at Warrior's neck, he's the Torchic. You see that bandage? Kaz did that. Your trainer wouldn't listen, because of how hurt Kaz was and how angry she was about it. But you can see I'm not lying! This is pointless! Kaz set a fatal trap with the local Poochyena pack, and we got caught. We escaped! This is not then! We just need to drop everything, and let bygones be bygones. Okay!"

Silence reigned for a few moments. Then Pichu cocked his head and nodded once, sharply. Just like that everyone sighed and relaxed. TJ put away his bat and put back on his coat. Then he bent down and began sitting Samantha up. She moaned and her eyes fluttered as she was moved.

OOOOOOOO

The next morning was business as usual at the Pokèmon Center. The only sign of the fight the previous night was a smattering of potting soil in the corner. The Kanes were up bright and early at 6 a.m., packed and ready to leave. They almost made it out the door without incident, but they were ambushed by the front sign.

"So, this was a strike and run, huh?"

They stopped. TJ turned and looked at Samantha. She looked all right, considering the fact that she must have a crushing headache. TJ shrugged.

"I wouldn't call it _striking_ and _running_," he said. "We just discussed it and decided that there might be a potential problem between our two groups."

"You mean I might be upset that you beaned me in the head with a baseball bat and nearly mutilated my Mightyena's mouth," Samantha said dryly.

"Well yes," said TJ, "There is that."

Samantha sighed. "Kaz was just trying to help the local pack become better at defending themselves from trainers; it was supposed to be a normal battle. But you stepped in, and hit that pup, and everyone got upset, and it kind of spiraled down from there. It was just a big case of misunderstanding, and I'm just happy no one got killed."

TJ digested this statement for a moment. "In that case, please tender our apologies to Kaz, and next time tell him to ask for your help. It's safer that way."

Samantha laughed. "Yes, it probably is. I'll tell him; he may even forgive you sometime in the next three thousand years."

TJ bobbed his head. "Well, We're headed this way, and you said you were staying a little longer to let Kaz heal up, so I guess we'll see you around, huh?"

Samantha bobbed her head, then held it and groaned. "Yeah, later."

The Kanes started walking down the path. They made it about ten steps away when Samantha said, "hey."

TJ turned. "Yeah?"

"You were pretty good in that fight. I totally didn't see the bat coming, and you managed to get a lucky hit in on me. Not bad. Keep practicing. I see you four going places someday, and I should know. Because I've been places before, and I can always tell potential. Good luck."

The Kanes all smiled in unison. "Thanks," said TJ.

And then they walked off into the sunrise.

**A/N:**Tadaa! All finished! You know the drill, I love reviews. And I should have a new chapter up in two or three weeks. I hope. So enjoy!


	10. The Meaning of Pancakes

**Chapter 10:**

**The Meaning of Pancakes**

_Beep! Beep! Beep_

"Ugh!" said May. The alarm clock ignored her and continued to beep. May groped around on the floor until her hand came into contact with something hard.

"Go to Hell!" she shouted as she chucked it in the direction of the alarm. There was a clunk and the alarm stopped. May sighed.

"Busken! Kencombusbuscomkenbusken!"

May groaned. "What is it Beck?"

And then thirty pounds of black-furred energy landed on her back.

"OOOFF!"

"Raff raff!"

"Midnight!" shouted May. Midnight hopped off her back and May sat up. "What time is it," she groaned. Beck picked up the alarm clock and showed May the face: six seventeen AM. May groaned again. "Midnight! Why did you wake me up!"

"Raff! Raff raff rrrr!"

"If you just said something about the alarm, I'm going to stuff it down your throat."

Midnight lowered his head and whined. May glared at him for a few minutes, then sighed. "All right, I'm up. Let me shower, and then we'll get some breakfast." The pokémon cheered.

May got out of bed and dug through her pack for some clean underwear, then grabbed her toiletries and went into the bathroom. Midnight waited until she closed the door, then turned to Beck.

"Ruff ruff urf?" he aked.

Beck shook his head and smiled. "Com, comkenbusken."

WHUMP! May's red vest hit Beck square on the beak.

"I am too a morning person!" she called from the bathroom.

OOOOOOOO

May and her pokémon sat quietly, concentrating on their food . Sunkis't was outside, sucking nectar from the flower box on the window. Beck sat at the table munching half a stack of pancakes. Midnight munched on some chili from a bowl on the floor. And May sat eating the other half-stack of pancakes. But May wasn't really focusing on her food. She was worrying. It had been a while since she had done anything except exist. She couldn't really remember what normal people did with their lives. She was feeling a bit lost, sitting at the pokémon center in Petalburg, picking at her pancakes.

May chased a bite of pancake around with her fork. She wistfully thought of TJ, and how much she missed him already. She hoped he was okay…passing through Oldale she had heard about a fight in the pokémon center, of all the iniquities, and she hoped he hadn't been caught up in it.

May wasn't really paying attention, so it's understandable that she missed her mouth entirely when she tried to eat a bite of pancake. But understandable though it was, the action was still comical. Several other early-rising trainers saw it, and a subdued chuckle went around the cafeteria. Face burning in embarrassment, May grabbed some to go boxes, packed up everyone's leftovers, and hurried out of the room. Midnight glanced questioningly at Beck, who shrugged his shoulders. The two followed May.

Passing through the entry doors, May turned left and sat down in front of the building. A nice big cherry tree hid her from the main street, and no one could see her from the path. She hugged her knees and bit her lip as a tear slid down her cheek. _I'm not ready,_ she thought. _TJ thought I was, but I'm not! I can't do this! I can't even eat properly without screwing up somehow! How can I travel around, manage three other lives in addition to my own, and compete in contests like this?_ May hung her head in despair.

Sunkis't fluttered over to the cherry tree, expressing disappointment when she saw there weren't any blossoms. Turning around she noticed May huddled against the wall, and touched down on her head. "Eeehhh! Eeehheeeeehh hheeeh?"

May reached up and stroked Sunkis't's body. "At least you guys believe in me, huh Sunkis't," she said sadly.

Beck and Midnight came around the corner and ambled over. Midnight pushed his snout firmly against May's thigh and whined, then hopped in her lap and gave her face a tonguebath. Beck patted her arm. May laughed.

"Watch out Beck," she cautioned, "any more taking care of me and you'll turn into my mother!"

Beck pantomimed horror at the thought. May laughed again.

"Ruff ruff hnn…" commented Midnight.

May sniffed and wiped her nose. "Sorry guys. I'm just having a little trouble believing I can do this. I know you can, but I'm not so sure I'm ready."

Sunkis't hugged her head while chittering softly, Midnight wagged his tail and yipped, and Beck patted her on the back. May smiled again.

"My biggest fans, right guys?"

The three pokémon signalled their assent.

May lay her head back and stared at the clouds. It was a nice day, around seventy degrees and partly cloudy. May watched the clouds roll by and thought of TJ. Abruptly she turned to her pokémon.

"Do you guys believe in God?"

They all nodded yes.

"Really?" she said. "that's funny, I didn't know pokémon had an opinion on God."

Her pokémon looked at each other, then shook their heads. Beck stood up and pantomimed thinking. When he was sure that May had gotten it, he shook his finger. Then he attempted to pantomime something that May couldn't understand.

"You believe in the god of ice cream?" she asked. "No? You think God likes shopping? You're saying God has lots of money? You're saying God gave you something?" Beck paused, then nodded. "Really? What?

Beck attempted to pantomime again, but with limited results. May sighed in frustration. "I'm sorry, you know what you're thinking but I just don't get it."

Beck nodded vigorously.

May stared at him, perplexed. "So, what you're trying to tell me is that you know something, but I'm not getting it?"

Beck nodded again.

"But I thought you said God gave you a-oh!" May stared at her poke̕mon in shock. "You're telling me that you three know, without a doubt, that there is a God? That's the gift God gave you?"

Beck smiled and nodded.

May stared at Beck, then suddenly shivered. "That's kind of creepy".

All three pokémon voiced their version of an indignant squawk. May shrugged uncomfortably. "Well, it _is_! I mean, come _on_! We're talking about the existence of a being who knows every single thing you've done wrong! Don't you guys find that thought creepy?" At their blank stares, May huffed in frustration. "Every mistake! Every bad thing you've done! Every bad thing you've thought! Everything that you've done wrong! Everything!" May was shouting now, but she didn't care. Tears were falling from her eyes. "He knows everything about me!"

The three pokémon stood silently, unsure of how to respond. May closed her eyes and leaned her head against her knees, and hiccupped gently with sobs.

"I can't do this…" she sobbed quietly. Midnight nuzzled her gently, whining. May glanced up through her tears, then started sobbing harder. _No matter what you show to everyone else,_ she thought,_ no matter how hard you try, you're just a second rate hack who needs someone else to do everything for you. You suck You SUCK! YOUSUCKYOUSUCKYOUSUCKYOUSUCKYOUSUCK…!_

Midnight howled quietly. May looked up with tears in her eyes. "It's no use pretending, guys. I can't do this. Someone will always see through the act to what I really am. I'm going down, and if you stick around you'll go with me. Jump ship, guys."

All three pokémon wrapped themselves around her leg.

"Don't you guys get it?" said May. "I'm a mess! I can't do this! The only real hope for me is to go down as quietly and as un-messily as possible! I don't want to ruin your lives as well as mine!"

May's pokémon wrapped themselves around her leg even tighter. May sniffled.

"You know," she said in a low, rough voice, "you know what scares me the most?"

Her pokémon all shook their heads.

"I'm scared of the prospect of an afterlife."

Beck looked up and shot her a 'what-the-h$&!' look.

"Well, I haven't really done very well in this life, have I?"

Her pokémon all shook their heads.

"So how am I going to do much better in the next life?"

Beck detached himself from her leg. He held his beak, as if in deep thought. Then he rummaged around in May's pack for a moment and pulled out the Bible her mother had given her.

"Great," said May, "I ask for help and my Combusken gets preachy on me. Fantastic. Really." She sighed. "So if I just read that book and follow the instructions, I'll be fine? I have news for you…I'M NOT GOOD AT THAT! I'LL NEVER BE ABLE TO LIVE UP TO SOME STUPID ANCIENT IDIOT'S IDEAS ABOUT HOW TO…wait," she caught herself. Then May started crying. "You see? I'm sorry Beck, I'm not mad at you. I'm just screwed up. I can't do this. Why do you bother with me?"

Beck hung his head in despair. Sunkis't chittered angrily and gestured at May. She proceeded to go through a series of complicated aerial maneuvers, chittering all the while.

"Sunkis't," said May, "I have no idea what you just said."

Sunkis't began to chitter again, but Beck interrupted her. "Busken, combusken buscomcosken. Com busken bus ken bus ken ken."

Sunkis't flittered around angrily, then settled atop May's head in a huff. Midnight crawled into her lap and curled up in a little ball, and Beck sat next to her and encircled her waist again. May smiled sadly.

"Look guys," she started, "I underst-" Beck silenced her with a claw. May gaped, worked her mouth a few times. She tried to speak, but only squeaks came out. So she sat in silence. She listened to the wind whisper around her. She listened to the Taillow in the trees chirp away happily. She listened to the muted murmur of trainers inside the Pokémon Center. May listened, and was still. The world seemed to stop moving, stop being, until she felt like there was nothing but the grass, and the cherry tree, and her and her pokémon. For a long time they sat, then May bowed her head. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she shuddered as if fighting a battle within her chest. Beck glanced at Sunkis't and Midnight meaningfully, and they all clung tightly to May. The storm couldn't be far off.

And it wasn't. With a mournful howl, May broke down and began to cry. Sobs racked her body and made it difficult for her pokémon to cling to her. May clutched her knees to her body and gulped for air. She wished she was dead. She felt with all of her being that she was a curse on the ones she loved and a torture to be around in general. Surface pain, deep pain, hidden pain, buried pain, ancient, secret pain, more types and kinds of pain flowed out of, flowed _through_ May than words can ever describe.

After a time, May's wracking sobs lessened just the tiniest bit. After more time, they lessened a bit more. Bit by bit May slowed down until she stopped altogether. It seemed as if the hospital wall and the cherry tree separated her from the rest of the world. May looked up and stared off into space. _What now?_ She thought. She felt numb inside, empty. Her body was restless, as if she were poised at the edge of a great precipice, about to dive off into the unknown at the bottom. Curious, she looked around her. A zephyr whipped past her.

"…**VE Y**-"

May glanced around. _I could have sworn I heard something,_ she thought.

**"MAY…"**

May trembled with fear. "Show yourself, stranger!"

"**MAY…**" whispered the wind, "**MAY, I LOVE YOU…**"

May waited for the voice to whisper more. When she was certain it was finished speaking, she sighed and placed her head on her knees again. Whoever the voice was—_God_, whispered her mind, it had said what she didn't want to hear. She felt like crying again, but the part of her soul that produced tears was empty. She wasn't really sure what to do next. She was wondering idly if she could just sit there forever and not move when something metal and cold poked her cheek.

"What the heck?" May looked at Beck; he was holding a fork in one hand, and her leftover pancakes in the other. He motioned toward her mouth with the fork, then held out the pancake box. May laughed brightly.

"You really are turning into my mother, Beck!" she said. But there was no sting in her words. She took the fork and leftovers from Beck and started eating. Beck smiled, then dug out the rest of the leftovers from her pack and the Maple family finished eating. Then May laughed again.

"Sorry guys. I lost my way for a bit. I guess it took you three to help me find it again. Thanks." She glanced at the empty Styrofoam box at her feet. "All this over some pancakes. I feel so silly." She was silent for a moment. "You know what guys? I've been an idiot. Every time something doesn't go right for me, I've just fallen down and quit. I'm getting pretty tired of it, how 'bout you?" Her pokémon nodded in assent. May smiled. "Well, I'm done. No more giving up when the going gets tough. I'm just gonna bite that bullet, buckle down, and eat those pancakes with pride."

The three pokémon laughed, and May laughed with them. "From now on it's the four of us-" Beck cleared his throat and surreptitiously patted her bible. "Sorry, the _five_ of us against the world. Okay?"

The pokémon cheered. May smiled, and she was unerringly certain that somewhere, God was smiling too.

OOOOOOOO

May and her pokémon walked into the Petalburg Gym chatting and laughing. Her brother turned and smiled.

"Hi May!" he shouted. "Dad's in the middle of a battle, wanna watch?"

"Sure!"

May followed Max into the back of the Gym. Her father was commanding Slakoth against a tough-looking Treeko and his trainer. So far, neither was giving any ground in what appeared to be a fierce battle.

"GO DAD!" cheered Max.

Norman Maple looked up at his son, then his face brightened. "May! I'm so glad to see you're all right!"

As he called his daughter's name, his opponent glanced back, and May's eyes shone like stars. "TJ!" she cried. Looking back to her father she said, "dad, this is the boy mom told you about, the one who—dad?"

May looked from one face to another. TJ looked upset, but it was nothing compared to her father, who looked positively murderous. And he was staring straight at TJ.

"Dad?" asked may questioningly.

And then Slakoth dove at Ranger with a savage snarl.


	11. Father of the Bride

**Author's Note: **Hey everybody. This is Tony with an apology. I've been really busy lately, although I did get this out in March as promised. As April 28th (my graduation date) approaches, my schedule will become more and more packed while I desperately try to get out of this school _alive_. I want to thank all the wonderful fans of this story for sticking it out, and I'm sorry about how long it's taking me to finish it. Keep reading!

**P.S.** Since I suddenly found myself with quite a bit of free time at school (I'm smarter than my classmates, in other words), I took the time to back up and edit my previous chapters. I've removed a few typos, and I've standardized the number of 'O' in my page breaks (Lunar Sphinx, they all now have 8). Feel free to return to old chapters and report anything I missed.

**Note:  
**"Speaking"  
_Thinking  
_Pokéspeak>  
Psychic conversations  
**Flashbacks  
**SHOUTING

* * *

**Chapter 11:**

**Father of the Bride**

The Kanes stood in front of the Petalburg city gym, looking grim. Ranger shook his head. "You _sure_ you want to do this?"

TJ nodded sharply. "Sooner or later I'll have to meet him, to make honorable my intentions."

"I hear he's too strong for such a small gym," said Warrior. "They say he's got a shot at the elite four when Drake retires."

"You saying you're scared?" said TJ.

Warrior snorted derisively.

"Good to hear," TJ replied. "Any _other_ questions or comments?"

"I'm hungry," said Skipper.

TJ sighed. "Anything else _related to the conversation_?"

"It's lunchtime," replied Skipper. "We can't fight on empty stomachs, right Warrior?"

Everyone turned to look at Warrior. He glanced down, sniffed, and ruffled his feathers in a shrugging motion. "We can always eat. Let's do this."

Skipper and Rangers' mouths dropped open. TJ tilted his head and nodded. "Never dreamed you'd like something more than eating. It's like a sign. Let's go."

"Right."

"Well, I guess…"

"Bring it," said Warrior. "That putz don't stand a chance!"

TJ smiled.

"Of course," continued Warrior, "you'll owed us all _extra_-big lunches to make up for working us late."

TJ gaped, speechless with rage. Ranger shook his head and smiled wryly.

"Good to know you haven't changed," he said to Warrior.

OOOOOOOO

The four walked through the sliding glass doors to the gym. There was a desk and a small waiting area, but there wasn't a secretary. The only other door was behind the desk. TJ glanced at the others inquisitively. They glanced back and shrugged. TJ rolled his eyes, then walked around the desk and opened the door. "Let's go."

The door opened into a hallway. Various other doors lined the walls. The sounds of a battle echoed distantly.

"This must be some sort of back hallway," said TJ. "If we follow the sound of fighting, we should find Norman."

The group trudged down the hall. Here or there a cracked door offered them a glimpse of different rooms. The sounds of battle became gradually louder, but they never seemed to solidify.

"This place is huge!" said TJ.

"Yeah, it's a lot bigger than it looks from the outside."

The Kanes turned in unison to look at the young man standing in front of a door to their left. "My name's Kinji," he said. "Lost?"

"Kinda," replied TJ. "We're looking for the gym leader. Can you help us?"

Kinji smirked. "You want a gym battle? With _that crew_?"

TJ quirked an eyebrow, then glanced at Ranger. Ranger nodded and leapt at Kinji, shouting incoherently. A few well-placed Pound attacks and Kinji was on the floor. "What's wrong with my brothers?" asked TJ in a sedate voice.

"N-nothing! A-a-absolutely nothing!" stammered a very nervous Kinji. Ranger grunted and stepped away from the assistant. Kinji stood up and brushed himself off, then glanced at the Kanes warily. "Follow me."

He turned around and strode briskly through the doorway he'd appeared in. The Kanes followed him into a narrow hallway. "This is the utility hallway we use to service the battle field," he said. "Norman's in the terrarium, it's this way." He turned and started walking again. Skipper stared at his receding back quizzically, then glanced at TJ.

"Does he have to explain everything? Seems kinda stupid to me."

"Probably not."

"Not what?"

TJ looked up. "Probably not what?" Kinji repeated.

"I was just answering Skipper," TJ replied. "The Mudkip," he said when Kinji shot him a confused look. Kinji's look remained. "Skipper asked a question. I would presume you know what a question is?"

"You'll pardon my rudeness," Kinji said, "But you speak as if you can understand it. I apologize for thinking something so ludicrous!"

"It's not ludicrous at all," stated TJ. "I understand the guys perfectly." He had once again obtained that air of unnatural calm.

Kinji gawked for a moment. "That's _ABSURD_!" he shouted. "_YOU'RE CRAZY! YOU'RE OUT OF YOUR GOD-FORSAKEN M-_" he snapped his mouth shut and fumed silently for a moment. Then he smiled maliciously and grabbed a pokéball from his waist. "My apologies gentlemen! It's clear that you're actually skilled beyond measure! Of course you won't mind a small _test_," and so saying he threw the pokéball on the ground. With a flash of light a large Zigzagoon appeared. "Zagoon! Tell me what you think of these four! And _you_, mister genius, tell me what he says!"

The Zigzagoon stared at his trainer as if he'd lost his mind. "All right," he huffed, "I think they're unfortunate to have to put up with you in one of your moods."

TJ furrowed his brow. He'd caught most of it, but some of the subtleties…oh well. He took a stab at translating, "he says he feels bad? I think? That we have to put up with you in your, ahh, I believe he said mood."

Kinji snorted in derision. "That's rather impressive, mister genius. How about we try something a bit more difficult, hmm? Zigzagoon! Tell me what my greatest fear is! _You_ translate, mister genius!"

The Zigzagoon shook his head violently. He didn't want to let this strange man who was clearly able to understand him know what his best friend's weakness was! He clamped his lips shut and refused to speak. Kinji stood for a few minutes, then glanced down. "Go ahead, tell him!"

The Zigzagoon shook his head even more violently. Kinji frowned. "Don't worry, it's fine! Tell him!"

Kinji's Zigzagoon shuddered as if it were about to rip itself apart. Then it sighed. "Your greatest fear is of-" he paused. Maybe he could still be loyal! "You're an Arachibutyrophobic."

TJ stared at him. It was possible, of course, that he had misheard him. Probable, actually. For Kinji to be afraid of something so ridiculous, so ludicrous, so insanely _harmless_, was near inconceivable. But still…

"Are you," TJ hesitated. He felt as if he almost couldn't do it. Taking a deep breath, he forced himself say, "are you most terrified of having your tongue stuck to the roof of your mouth by peanut butter?"

Kinji's face turned an ashen gray. "How did you know!" he managed to gasp. His jaw sagged towards the ground. After a few moments, he collected himself. "Zigzagoon return," he muttered.

"Now don't be too hard on him," said TJ, "He did try to confuse me, just his bad luck I speak several languages, it's not really his fault that I understood him, I mean, don't punish him!"

Kinji stood with his back to them. "Who are you."

TJ shrugged. "Just another trainer."

Kinji smiled sardonically. "So it seems, until you four are annoyed enough to do something incredible."

TJ had no answer to Kinji's comment. An awkward silence settled over the hallway. Kinji stared at the Kanes with piercing eyes. The moment dragged on.

Finally, Kinji sighed and turned to face down the hallway. "Follow me, mystery warriors. Norman is close."

He started walking down the hall quietly. Skipper, Ranger, and Warrior shot TJ A 'what-the-hell' look. TJ shrugged and started walking after Kinji, the three pokémon trailing in his wake.

OOOOOOOO

"Master Norman," said Kinji, "you have challengers."

The Kanes walked out of the dark hallway with relief. They seemed to be in some sort of tropical forest. Through the scrub, Warrior could just barely make out a wall of some sort. "Must be the terrarium."

TJ scanned the forest. "I thought you were taking us to Norman," he said to Kinji. "There's no one here."

Kinji glanced about the trees. "I know he was here fifteen minutes ago…He was training. Maybe he's further back amongst the trees. NORMAN! Sir!"

TJ huffed. "That's brilliant, Kinji. That'll work just fine. Maybe Norman's psychic and he'll hear your voice as a mental projection!"

"Stranger things have happened!"

The group turned to look at a strong looking man as he emerged from the foliage. He was followed by a tough-looking Slakoth, and both were sweating as if having just stopped some great exertion. TJ nodded at them. "You Norman Maple?"

"That I am!" Norman said heartily. He shot out his hand and TJ shook it. "What might your name be?"

"I'm TJ," he said.

"Nice to meet you TJ! Here for a battle?"

"The preceding observation courtesy of captain obvious," muttered Warrior. TJ suppressed a smile.

"Yeah, we'd like that. When can we?"

Norman shook his head. "Not today, I'm afraid. The gym's closed--I sent Kinji to lock the door. I was just sweating out some stress."

TJ frowned. "Well, I guess…" he trailed off.

Norman boomed a laugh. "In a hurry?"

"Kinda, yeah."

"Sir?" said Kinji questioningly, "sir, are you feeling all right?"

Norman plastered a large and very fake smile on his face and beamed at him. After a few minutes he sighed, and his shoulders slumped. "I'm working on it, Kinji. I'm still pretty upset."

Kinji clucked his tongue sympathetically. Norman and his Slakoth seemed to deflate, and their faces took on a mournful cast. Concerned, TJ asked, "What's wrong?"

Kinji gawked at him. Norman shot TJ a piercing stare, then nodded sharply. "How much do you know about me, TJ?"

TJ shrugged. "Your name is Norman, you're the gym leader here, you're married and have two kids, a daughter and a son, and you train Slakoth. And your apprentice is afraid of having his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth with peanut butter."

Norman shot Kinji a quizzical look, and Kinji blushed. Norman barked out a laugh. "Smart man! Well, you're right, I do have a family, they live in Littleroot Town. About a week ago my daughter was walking home to visit us when she was attacked by a group of boys. They battled her, cheated, she beat them, then they knocked out her pokémon and tried to rape her. She…" Norman paused. His face had gone from boisterous to cherry red, and rage was evident in his posture. He inhaled a few deep breaths, and managed to calm down. "She was rescued by some _boy_, I can't remember his name, and taken into his house."

"And now you want to find the creeps who tried to rape her?" queried TJ.

"Oh please!" exclaimed Norman, "do you really think they were going to rape her? In _Littleroot Town_? You mark my words, the bastard who rescued her put them up to it, probably paid them, just so that he could worm his way into my little girl's _pants!_ Who knows what he did to her that she won't tell her mother and me!"

The Kanes gawked, openmouthed, at Norman. "You mean, you, you blame the guy who_ rescued her?_ You think it was a _setup?_ Are you _kidding me?_" said TJ. "That guy's a _hero!_ He didn't have to step in and save your daughter!"

Norman glared at TJ, and TJ knew what they meant when they said 'if looks could kill'. "You think he's a…_hero_," said Norman slowly. "Why is _that_, if you don't mind my asking?"

TJ froze. One misstep here and he'd be a Slakoth's plaything. He swallowed hard. "E-easy man! Chill out!"

"You never answered my question."

TJ gulped again, for effect. "Look, my sister was raped when she was 15. She was in a restaurant parking lot, hell, _there were people walking right past her!_ And nobody helped her! NOBODY!" His chest heaved as he tried to think up a good finish to his story. "Maybe your daughter was conned, maybe not. But I sure wish someone had tried to con my sister like that…it would've been a lot better than the alternative!"

TJ stood completely still. If he was lucky, his story had completely thrown Norman off the scent. If he was unlucky, well, he had his bat.

Norman grunted. "Interesting." He stared at TJ for a while. Finally, he said, "Kinji? Did you lock up the gym yet?"

"No sir, sorry sir," said Kinji, "I was on my way when I found them."

Norman nodded. "I owe you an apology…I'm pretty upset about her getting attacked, and it's making me irrational. As a sort of apology, how about I let you battle me now? It's," Norman glanced at his watch, "Two o'clock. Give us thirty minutes to set up the sparring room, and then you can fight me for a badge. Sound good?"

"I don't want to impinge on the rest of your Sunday…" said TJ.

"Please," said Norman, "it's not a problem."

TJ shrugged. "Okay, works for us."

OOOOOOOO

"The battle between Pokémon Trainer TJ and Gymleader Norman for the Balance Badge will now begin! Each trainer will use one pokémon!" TJ quirked an eyebrow at the distinction; apparently Norman was still in a hurry.

"GO SLAKOTH!"

TJ frowned. Regardless of how tough he acted in front of Kinji, his brothers were all low level. Norman's Slakoth was likely to be very strong, a sort of ponderous boulder waiting to crush his opponent. "Ranger, you're up."

Ranger grunted in acknowledgement. Norman shot TJ a concerned look, but quickly refocused on the battle. "Slakoth! Slash!"

Slakoth snarled fiercely and leapt up, claws extended. _He's fast_, thought TJ,_ way faster than a normal Slakoth..._

Ranger stood calmly, an understated smile on his face. Norman's Slakoth drew closer and closer, until defeat was imminent. At the last possible moment Ranger leapt out of the way, smacking Slakoth in the process.

..._But not fast enough!_ Thought TJ fiercely.

Ranger landed gracefully. He knew he hadn't really hurt Slakoth, but he had annoyed it. That was good—and bad. But Ranger was also good, so he wasn't too worried. "Hey," he said, "You. Yeah, the Slakoth. C'mere, I wanna tell you something."

Slakoth squinted at Ranger suspiciously. No way was he going to fall for that! "Slkth, slak sla kothslak!"

Ranger shrugged. "Okay. I just wanted to say your mother was a Houndoom and your father was a Sneasal."

"SLAAAKOTHHHHHHHH!" Slakoth shouted, incensed. He charged, full of rage...not bothering to check his positioning. Ranger once again dodged easily, but this time he spun and kicked hard with both feet. Slakoth landed awkwardly, and most certainly didn't benefit from having Ranger land on him feet first. Leaping away once more, Ranger landed in front of TJ, panting. Slakoth stood up shakily, obviously tired.

_Ranger's got him!_ TJ thought excitedly. _Ten minutes of this and he'll be down and out! And then we make good our escape! _

And then luck deserted the Kanes.

"GO DAD!"

TJ frowned; who was that?

Norman looked up, and his face brightened. "May! I'm so glad to see you're all right!"

TJ knew he shouldn't but he couldn't help himself. He looked back. May instantly recognized him, her face brightening considerably. _Please,_ he thought, _please don't say—_

"TJ! Dad, this it the boy mom told you about, the one who—dad?"

TJ looked at Norman's face. His previous death glare must have been underpowered, because the look currently on his face could have crispy fried the entire Gym. _Oh crap,_ thought TJ.

Slakoth snarled barbarically and dove at Ranger, but Ranger was ready. Leaping out of the way, he slapped Slakoth's side with his tail, making him land on his back. Landing, he swung a roundhouse kick before Slakoth could get up. Slakoth skidded across the floor and smacked into the wall. He stood up, unevenly. _We might still have a shot..._ TJ thought hesitantly.

"SLAKING!" shouted Norman, "HELP!"

_We're doomed._

Ranger snarled menacingly. Zigzagging randomly, he shot towards Slakoth. Slakoth saw him coming, tensed his body to dodge. Ranger shot off to the left, bounced off the bleacher style seats, and arrowed in on Slakoth's right. Slakoth rolled to his left, but Ranger landed on his side and bowled right into the poor pokémon. Slakoth grunted weakly and passed out. Ranger stood up, gingerly prodded Slakoth, then pumped his fist in the air. "Ka-ching!"

"Easy Ranger," muttered TJ grimly, "We're not out of the woods yet." He kept a watchful eye on Norman, and his bat arm was itching to draw.

"What're you talking about?" asked Ranger. "One pokémon battle, and I beat his one pokémon! We won…the fight's over!"

"Tell that to HIM!" shouted TJ as he drew his bat. With a floorshaking rumble, Norman's Slaking landed right in front of Ranger and pounded his chest. "RANGER GET OUTTA THERE!" said TJ.

Ranger didn't think twice, he just leapt up and back. After all, he was way faster than Slakoth, and this big goon couldn't be much better, in fact he was probably—

**WHUMP!**

With a sickening sound, Slaking's fist battered Ranger's body into the floor. Ranger bounced off the wood, landed, rolled towards the other Kanes, and stopped about halfway. He didn't seem to be breathing.

"NORMAN!" screamed three voices at the top of their lungs. Skipper shrieked and charged at Slaking, battering him with a pressurized stream of water. Warrior was right behind him, launching embers at the floor. Slaking swung his great fist at Skipper, but Skipper surprised everyone in the room by kicking his speed up a few notches and zipping around Slaking's fist to attack his undefended rear. Slaking swung around to deal with this new twist, but Warrior took that as an opening to launch himself claws first as Slaking's face. Slaking howled in agony as Warrior's talons bit deep.

TJ cradled Ranger's body, tears streaming down his face. One of his tears landed on Ranger, who stirred and moaned. TJ sobbed in relief, then walked to the sidelines and gently set him down at May's feet. "Watch him," he said in a low voice.

Throughout the entire ordeal, May had stood with her jaw hanging and a look of utter confusion on her face. Now she slammed her jaw shut, gathered herself, and shrilled, "DADDY!"

Her shriek pierced through the battle, causing everyone to stop. Norman glanced at his daughter, confused.

"STOP IT DADDY! Stop it right now! Leave him alone!"

"WHAT!" roared Norman. "YOU WANT ME TO LET THIS BA—THIS CREEP GO?"

"YES!"

"OUT OF THE QUESTION! WHAT'S GOTTEN INTO YOU YOUNG LADY! HE'S A PERVERT!"

"HE _SAVED MY LIFE!_"

"This is insane!" said Norman. "Max, restrain your sister until I have time to talk to her!"

"Right dad!" said Max. "Kirlia, come on out!"

Max's Kirlia appeared in a blaze of light. Immediately she projected a psychic barrier around May. "Oh no!" May exclaimed, "Not this time! Midnight!"

Midnight charged in from the lobby. "Midnight!" said May, "Get the Kirlia!"

"Raff ruff urf!" said Midnight. He started charging towards Max's Kirlia, but froze. TJ glanced over at him. Midnight growled, then charged the man who had beaned him previously.

"MIDNIGHT!" shouted May, "MIDNIGHT STOP! NO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!"

Meanwhile TJ was doing his very best to dodge Midnight's barrage. "TELL ME YOU DIDN'T FIND HIM ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD!" he shouted.

"I DID! SOMEONE HIT HIM AND LEFT HIM THERE!"

TJ groaned. "THAT WAS ME! HIS PACK ATTACKED US AND I BEANED HIM IN THE HEAD!" And then Midnight managed to sink his teeth into TJ's leg. "OWWWW!"

May was nearly in a state of panic. "MIDNIGHT RETURN! TJ, I CAN'T HELP YOU, I DON'T HAVE A POKEMON STRONG ENOUGH!"

"GREAT!" TJ roared back. His leg hurt where Midnight had bitten it, and Skipper and Warrior, though inventive, were slowly losing in the face of a clearly superior opponent. "NORMAN!"

"WHAT DO _YOU_ WANT, SCUMBAG!" Norman roared back.

"THIS IS POINTLESS! YOU'RE GONNA KILL THEM! STOP THIS!"

Norman set his face in a grim glare. "NO!"

TJ gasped in despair. His brothers were seconds away from being clobbered. He had to defend them! TJ made a snap decision. Shouting a wild battle cry, he charged into the fray. Skipper and Warrior scattered. Slaking looked up to see what the commotion was, and took TJ's bat right in his face. TJ whipped his bat away and swung it again, at Slaking's arm. "YOU! WILL! NOT! HURT! ANY! MORE! OF! MY! BROTHERS!" he shouted, punctuating each word with another blow. Slaking grunted, looking angry. He raised his fist to swipe away the nuisance, but TJ was too fast for him. "OH NO YOU DON'T!" he shouted. "I," he slammed his bat into Slaking's jaw, "HAVE HAD," he whipped his bat into Slaking's temple, "ENOUGH," he swung his weapon into the pokémon's stomach, "OF," he kneed Slaking in the crotch, "YOU!" he swiped the doubled-over pokémon in the side. "THIS FIGHT'S _OVER_!" he screamed. With all his strength, TJ brought his bat down on top of Slaking's skull. Slaking wobbled, then fell to the ground. TJ stared down at him, panting, as his adrenalin and rage ebbed away. He looked down at his bat and realized there was blood on the tip. He looked at Slaking, and saw the scratches on his face. _Oh God, I hope the blood's from those scratches!_ he thought to himself.

He turned to Norman and said, "My badge, please."

Everyone in the room stared back at him. Norman frowned as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Badge?" he said, "what badge! You attacked my Slaking! And deceived my daughter! You're going to jail!"

TJ glared at Norman. "You broke the law first, Maple!"

Norman gaped back at TJ. "What are you talking about!"

"'The battle between Pokémon Trainer TJ and Gymleader Norman for the Balance Badge will now begin! Each trainer will use one pokémon'. You broke your oath. You owe me a badge by legal forfeiture."

Norman glared at TJ. "You attacked my Slaking! You're going to jail!"

"DADDY STOP IT!" screeched May. "TJ SAVED ME! LEAVE HIM ALONE! AND I _HAVEN'T SLEPT WITH HIM!_"

TJ whirled his bat around a bit. "I'm sorry I lied to you, Norman—though in my defense, you have the scariest face of anyone I've ever met. I should have known better, lying has always caused me problems in the past. But I love your daughter," May glanced at him in mild shock, "and I did not sleep with her. I just came here for a badge. Will you give it to me?"

May strode over and latched onto TJ's arm, staring accusingly at her father. Norman stood there, looking torn. "I really don't like you!" he suddenly barked out.

"You did before you knew who I was."

Whatever Norman had been about to say died in his throat. He stared at the floor, deep in thought. Finally he said, "I don't think I'm ready to lose my little girl."

TJ's head spun. How was he to answer that?

"You hear all the bad things that happen in the world," Norman continued, "and are properly disgusted with them. Then you continue on with your life and don't really think about them. But when something bad hits close to home, you're suddenly forced to consider all the evil out there…When I heard my little girl had been attacked, I panicked. And when I heard that she had been rescued by someone else, I felt…ashamed. Ashamed that I wasn't there to protect her. I was…jealous of you, for taking my place."

TJ stared at Norman, nonplussed. "And you just figured this out?"

"No," sighed Norman, "I knew it ages ago, I just didn't want to admit it."

"Wouldn't admitting it have been easier?"

"Perhaps."

"Wouldn't it have been less _painful_?"

Norman glanced at TJ sharply. "For whom?"

"_Me_!" TJ squawked.

"Hmmm," murmured Norman, "that's what I was afraid of."

TJ stared at Norman in confusion. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You're too violent," Norman said. "I know," he continued as TJ squawked in indignation, "I know that I broke the rules first, but you could have killed my Slaking. I can't give you a badge—you broke too many laws."

"'Broke too many laws'," TJ parroted. "'Too violent'. What about what your Slaking did to my brothers! _He_ could have killed _THEM_!"

Norman shook his head. "Any human that participates in a pokémon battle is considered dangerous."

TJ just glowered.

"I'm sorry about attacking you, but you'll have to compete again later. I can't let this slide."

TJ clenched his jaw tight. "And May?"

Norman bowed his head. "It's her life; she can make her own decisions."

TJ nodded sharply. "Ranger?" he inquired.

Ranger stood up. It felt like he was about to split down his sides. "I'm good," he called.

TJ smirked knowingly. "Yeah right." He kissed May on the lips. "See you later," he whispered. Then in a louder tone of voice, he said, "let's move it out guys. We've got an appointment to keep."

"We do?" said Skipper.

TJ stared directly at Norman. "We do _now_," he said, his voice laden with meaning.

Skipper shrugged, then walked over to Ranger and offered him a ride. Warrior hopped onto TJ's shoulder. TJ hissed. "Other shoulder! _The_ _other one_!"

"Sorry," said Warrior. He switched shoulders.

TJ strode to the door. But right before he passed through it, he turned to face Norman. "I'd retrain that Slaking of yours," he said.

"Oh? Why's that?"

"Because the next time we fight, I won't go easy on him…or on you."

And with that ominous statement, the four Kanes strode out of the Gym.

**Note:** Ooohhh, I made TJ much nastier than I intended him to be! But in his defense, emotionally erratic people are _very_ frustrating (trust me, I have first-hand experience). n-e-way, I should have chapter 12 out sometime in May-June, and there's plenty of bat-wielding mayhem to satiate the gratuitis violence needs of the people. 'Til next time, Ciao!


	12. Code of Seven

**Author's Note:** About freakin' time I finished this chapter! Dang this took a while! But it has a lot of good stuff in it, I'm rather proud of my first real gym battle, I think they did decent without actually sweeping the field, but you can definitely tell that they're innately skilled. Anyway, I don't know if Chapter 13 will be out in August or September, because I've got another fic I've been working on in the interim, and it's almost ready for publishing, so I might put that out first. In any case, I hope you enjoy.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokémon, Houenn, May, or any derivitave thereof. I do own  
my character TJ.

**Note:  
**"Speaking"  
_Thinking_  
Pokéspeak  
Psychic conversations  
**Flashbacks  
**SHOUTING!

**Chapter 12:**

**Code of 7**

"Step it up boys! We're burning daylight!"

Skipper, Ranger, and Warrior groaned. "We're _tired_," whined Warrior. "We've been 'stepping it up' for three days now! What's the deal?"

TJ grunted. "Let's go."

Ranger cleared his throat. "TJ."

TJ stopped and inclined his head towards the Treecko. "Yeah?"

"I need to rest. My chest hurts."

TJ sighed. "Fifteen minute break, then we're back on the road."

The three pokémon sighed gratefully and sat. Warrior glanced at TJ. "You're not still pissed about Norman, are you?"

"Of course not!" TJ barked, crushing a flower in his fist. He stared off into the distance, a scowl on his face.

"You're upset that you got in trouble for defending us, aren't you?" said Warrior quietly.

TJ clenched his fist until the knuckles whitened, then sighed. "Yes." He forced a chuckle. "That transparent, am I?"

Warrior shrugged. "It's only natural."

TJ nodded frustratedly. "I just don't understand how they can expect me to stand by and let you guys be clobbered!"

"Why not," said Ranger quietly, "they do."

A heavy silence descended over the group. It struck TJ how very little he knew about his adopted brothers' respective pasts. "I take it you have experience with such matters?" he enquired.

Ranger's hand jerked spasmodically to his lower snout, and the scar that the other Kanes hadn't noticed before. It looked suspiciously like he'd been kicked in the jaw by someone wearing steel-toed boots. "I don't want to talk about it!"

TJ and Warrior stared at Ranger, fidgeting uncomfortably. Both wanted to comfort him, but neither knew how.

"YAHAAA!" shouted Skipper as he leapt upon Ranger's shoulders. "TAG! You're it!"

Ranger huffed in pain. "What'd you do THAT FOR!" he shouted. "THAT HURT!"

Skipper shrugged. "I wanted to play tag! You're it!" And he dashed off.

"SKIPPER!" Ranger shouted. Springing up, he began chasing the little Mudkip, snarling. TJ and Warrior chuckled.

"You think he realizes that Skipper just cheered him up?" asked TJ.

"Not yet," replied Warrior. "But later, maybe."

"You think he'll say thank you?"

Warrior snorted. "I'll be impressed if he acknowledges it!"

TJ laughed. Watching his brothers, he felt the anger melt right out of him. Sighing, he called out, "Skipper! Ranger! Knock it off, we're leaving!"

"But, but," whimpered Ranger, "my chest still hurts, thanks to _somebody_ landing on my shoulders!"

TJ unzipped his duffle full of clothes. "Hop in."

OOOOOOOO

"Whoooaa…" said Skipper.

"You said it," agreed Warrior. The Kanes stared at the monolithic structures of Rustboro City. Dominating the scene was the massive Devon Corp. headquarters in the middle of downtown. Surrounding it were various shops, apartment complexes, parks, and a wide variety of tourist attractions. Closer to the edge of town, the National Pokémon College campus teemed with various trainers and pokémologists. Right in front of the Kanes, the city gates loomed like the mouth of a massive beast. TJ gulped nervously. "You get the feeling they don't like strangers here?"

"They don't!" barked a strange voice.

The Kanes jumped two feet in the air. Inside TJ's duffle, Ranger moaned in pain. TJ swiveled his head and glanced at the stranger. "Who're you?" he asked sharply.

"Name's Jonas," the man replied. He was about five foot five, with brown overalls and a blue shirt. His hair was a mixture of dark brown and engine grease black. He was holding a wrench, and there was a trucker stepping into his rig just behind him. Sitting on his shoulder was a Plusle.

TJ nodded in greeting. "My name's TJ Kane. These are my brothers: Skipper, Warrior, and the Treecko in the bag is Ranger. He's got a few issues right now, so he gets a ride in the duffle."

Jonas indicated the Plusle and said, "this here's Jump Start. If you're planning to go into the city," he continued, "stick to the tourist sites. Lotta the locals are superstitious morons. They don't like trainers walking about in their sacred city. Be careful."

TJ nodded. "We will." He cocked his head and said, "sacred city? I've never heard Rustboro called that."

Jonas sighed. "Most people haven't. Thousands of years ago, or so the locals claim, this city was built by 'god's chosen people', or some such like that. Apparently, there was a temple and everything, and the believers of this 'god' had to come here to worship and make sacrifices. But over time the inhabitants of the city sinned, and so their god abandoned them to the fates, and it fell. One hundred and fifty years ago, this place was a bunch of ruins with a few hardcore inhabitants. Then Devon Stone the First, the founder of Devon Co., came here with a building crew to excavate whatever ancient secrets he could find. This led to that, and pretty soon he'd decided to build his company's new headquarters here, and the rest is history. Today, almost everybody knows Rustboro for Devon Corp., and only a few researchers at the college know about its past."

TJ nodded slowly, deep in thought. To him, the city sounded strangely like Jerusalem back home. That meant that the people would be the Terran equivalent of Jews. TJ's experiences with Jewish people had been okay, but they tended to weird him out, what with all their eating and complaining. He'd have to be careful what he said to whom in the city. "Interesting," he said slowly. "And how do you know about all of this?"

Jonas shrugged. "I'm a descendant of the ancient inhabitants of this city."

TJ raised his eyebrows. "You don't share your parent's beliefs about their God? Or about outsiders?"

Jonas sighed, and his shoulders fell. "Yeah, I'm not exactly thrilled about the state of things, but that was a long time ago. I think my people need to move forward, find a way to worship god while staying in touch with the world. I guess I'd prefer it if Devon would leave the ruins alone, but they're here to stay, so we might as well get used to it. As far as what I believe about god," he said, his face perking up, "I definitely believe he's out there, and I think he's giving us all a second chance."

"Riiiiight," TJ intoned, "then why did you sound so skeptical?"

"I've gotta eat," said Jonas. "Most of my generation is finding that they need money, and going to work for Devon. I just graduated to a level-one technician in their garage. My faith isn't very popular within the company, so I usually hide it. You seemed genuinely interested, so I felt okay telling you more than I normally would."

TJ bobbed his head in understanding. "Cool. Well, I guess we'll be going then."

Jonas smiled. "Where you headed?"

"We've got a date with Roxanne!" TJ replied. "And then I'll probably hit the college library. I've got some legal discrepancies to take care of."

Jonas's face fell. "Roxanne keeps teacher's hours, she closed the gym about thirty minutes ago. And only students and accredited researchers can access the campus library."

"Crap!" TJ muttered. "Thanks man. I guess I'll just have to find a way into that library on my own."

Jonas shook his head disbelievingly. "What do you need to get in there for anyway? Couldn't you just look it up on the web?"

TJ shook his head no. "I need detailed minute legal information. I've got a, uh," he searched for a word, "_delicate_ situation. I need to get in and do my own research."

Jonas frowned. "Well," he began, "if it's _that_ important, you could talk to Eliza, see if she'll help you."

"_Eliza_?" TJ said questioningly.

A big sappy grin spread over Jonas' face. "My fiancé. She's a fourth year student at the college, and she works as an assistant librarian to help pay some of the bills. You'll have to convince her it's a good idea, but she's probably your best bet."

TJ shrugged. "Couldn't hurt."

"Hop in," said Jonas, indicating a nearby pickup truck. "I'll give you a ride."

OOOOOOOO

Eliza turned out to be a short woman with strawberry red hair and glasses. She was wearing a denim blouse with a knit sweater, and a green cotton skirt. She was outside, sitting on a bench and eating a sandwich. When Jonas got out of the truck, her face lit up. "JONAS! Hi sweetheart!"

Her voice was low and musical, and quavered in a way that made TJ's spine tingle. For a brief moment, he was overwhelmed by a desire to see May. He swallowed hard; he understood Jonas' earlier sappy grin.

Jonas looked up from kissing his fiancé. "Eliza, these are the Kanes: TJ, Warrior, Skipper, and the Treecko in the bag is Ranger. He's not feeling very good."

"Well," corrected Eliza.

"_Well_, then, Ms. Fairy," said Jonas. "Any way, TJ here, he really needs to use the library's resources, and he's not a student, and he doesn't have credentials, but it's really important, so he was wondering if you would—TJ? TJ, you okay?"

TJ jumped, and blushed. "Uh, yeah. I, uh, well, it's just," he looked up at Eliza, "you're very beautiful, ma'am, and you obviously love Jonas a lot, and he obviously loves _you_ a lot, and I just got to, I mean, I guess it's because of this girl. She lives in my hometown, and she's traveling around as a coordinator right now, and we kind of left some unfinished business, and I, uh, well, she's beautiful, and sweet, and I really miss her, and I can't stop thinking about her, and I guess seeing you and Jonas, I just really miss her." TJ rubbed the back of his neck self-consciously. "I'm sorry if I disturbed you."

Eliza looked at TJ, her eyes sparkling. "You love this girl, don't you?" she asked.

TJ stared at Eliza. Did he love May? He'd thought it, heck, he'd even said it to Norman! But no one had out and asked him before now. He stared off into the distance, thinking. DID he love May? Enough to tell her so? Enough to _marry her_? Spend the rest of his life with her? He'd never been in love before, the locals had seen to that. TJ shrugged his shoulders uncomfortably. "I dunno!" he said in a loud voice. After all, this wasn't the sort of decision one made lightly! He'd probably have to discuss it with his brothers, and most especially his girlfr—

TJ stopped cold. He had just subconsciously called May his girlfriend. _I guess I _do_ think of her as my girlfriend, and I would think we'll get married, if we stay a couple for long enough!_ TJ felt as if he was teetering on the edge of a great precipice. The enormity of his decision weighed on him like a Wailord. TJ took a deep breath, and committed his heart.

"Yeah, I love her. I love her! Hell, I want to spend the REST OF MY LIFE WITH HER!" TJ was shouting. A great tide of joy swelled within him. The confidence and strength inherent in knowing who his soul mate was flowed through him like a stream of magma.

Eliza smiled warmly. "Wonderful! Congratulations! Does she know?"

"Hey," interrupted Jonas, "that's great, congrats. Now how about we focus? Eliza, TJ wants you to help him sneak into the library so he can research some stuff in the legal department. Will you?"

Eliza looked at Jonas, taken aback. "Why?"

Jonas shrugged. "He says he needs to get in there."

Eliza frowned. "Jonas! I can't just let _anyone_ into this library! Besides the fact that I have no way of knowing whether or not they're trustworthy, it wouldn't be right! I'm an employee here, and I'm supposed to follow their rules! I couldn't let someone in just because you think they should be let in, and quite frankly I'm upset that you think you can do that with me! I have half a mind to…"

TJ listened as Eliza lay into Jonas. Glancing at Jump Start, he indicated Eliza with his eyes and shot him a questioning look. Jump Start shook his head and gazed at Jonah forlornly. TJ winced. "Guys? Guys! Hey! Guys, c'mon! GUYS! HELLO!"

Eliza stopped berating Jonas, and the two of them stared at him. TJ sighed. "Look, I'm sorry if I asked you to do something immoral. If you really want to know, I'm looking for a way to legally participate in battles with my team, okay? Totally _not _worth fighting over."

The couple stared at TJ. "What," said Jonas, "like a code of seven?"

"Code of what?" asked TJ. Eliza nodded.

Jonas sighed. "Code of Seven's an ancient oath my people took for Yaweh. It meant that they would fight against pokemon to defend the city. It's not a commonly known thing, even among my people. Even taking the oath was pretty painful, because you had to get all manner of tattoos on your body to denote it."

TJ stared at Jonas. He mulled it over for a moment, then shrugged. "Yeah, something like that. All I know is, I fight to defend my brothers. Norman Maple, the Petalburg Gymleader, beat Ranger up pretty badly. I think he would have been more cautious if there had been the remote possibility that I could have creamed him personally. I will find a way into that library to research legal loopholes, and you can help me or not. But it won't really matter, because like I said, I_ will_ find a way into that library."

Eliza looked down, frowning in thought. "You really think that?"

"I _know_ that."

"You could get hurt."

"Doesn't matter."

"Why do you care so much?" asked Eliza.

TJ sighed. "I don't know how my beliefs jive with yours, but I know that there is a God. He brought me here. I believe he created us all equal. I believe in his son, Jesus. I believe that that son died for our sins. Now, believing all that, how could I in good conscience allow my family to fight while I sit by and twiddle my thumbs? I'm a warrior. I still don't know what God wants with me, but I know what I think is and isn't right, and I'm going to follow it. My brothers getting hurt while I stand around and watch is not right."

Eliza glanced at Jonas. "How close does that sound to Code of Seven?"

Jonas shrugged. "Generally speaking my people don't like Christians, but it's pretty open. If he wanted to take that vow, I don't think there's a law preventing him from doing it."

TJ frowned at Jonas and Eliza. "What?"

Eliza looked at TJ. "The ancient pokemological code that Code of Seven comes from is the basis of all current league operating procedures. Basically, anything that appears in the ancient code has to be honored, or the structure of all leagues worldwide is null and void. If you were to take that vow, no force on earth could stop you from fighting with your pokemon, and you could demand they battle you."

Jonas and TJ gaped at her. "How the heck do you know that?" asked Jonas.

Eliza shrugged. "I'm an assistant research librarian at the largest university on the continent. Highly venerable and important professors are constantly asking for my help. You think I don't retain any of the information I research?"

Jonas laughed. "I knew there was a reason I'm marrying you!"

Eliza shot him a dirty look, then glanced at TJ. "Well? How about it?"

TJ sighed. "I don't know…" he said. Inwardly he struggled. Would God condone this? It was essentially manipulating religion to fit his own needs, after all. _What do I do Lord?_

"I need some time to pray about it," he said. "Can I get back to you later?"

Eliza nodded. Jonas glanced at him, then said, "take all the time you need…but be warned that the Code of Seven ceremony has to be performed on a full moon, and that's tonight. If you don't want to wait another month…"

TJ gulped, then nodded.

OOOOOOOO

Jonas pulled up to the pokemon center. "We're here."

TJ nodded. "Thanks man. For everything. And tell Eliza I'm sorry if I offended her sense of justice."

Jonas chuckled. "She'll get over it. Have you decided?"

TJ shot him a look. "Dude, it's only been twenty minutes!"

Jonas shrugged. "Your window for this is limited. It's got to be tonight!"

TJ sighed. "I still need more time!"

Jonas nodded slowly. "Well, if you do decide to go for it, meet me here," and he gave TJ a scrap of paper with an address, "at around midnight."

TJ took the scrap. "Right."

Jonas nodded. There was an expression halfway between a grin and a grimace on his face. "Hope to see you there man."

TJ sighed. Jonas nodded and walked back to his truck. As he drove off, TJ glanced at the paper scrap. He felt like a great weight was weighing on his shoulders, preventing him from breathing properly. He glance at the other Kanes. "What do you think about it guys?"

Warrior shrugged. "What's to think? It sounds like a good idea."

Skipper nodded in agreement. "You already fight with us; this'll just make it more official."

TJ shook his head. That hadn't been what he'd meant. Shaking his head again, he stared up at the clouds and sighed.

"TJ…" murmured Ranger from the duffle bag.

TJ glanced down. "What's up?"

Ranger sighed. "You and you alone can decide if this is right. We're not capable of giving you the answers you need, and we shouldn't be the ones to ask him who can. You'll have to do that on your own, and make your decision based on what you think his answer is."

TJ nodded, a smile on his face. _Trust Ranger to fully grasp the situation,_ he thought. Glancing at the sky again, he offered up silent prayer. _Lord, aid me in honoring you!_

And with a gentle shrug of his shoulders, he started trudging back towards the pokemon center.

OOOOOOOO

Jonas and Eliza were at the local temple. Eliza sat on the ground next to the door, while Jonas paced in front of it. Sighing angrily, he said, "where is he! The ceremony has to start at exactly midnight on the night of the full moon! He doesn't have much time!"

"Jonas!" said Eliza in a quiet voice. "Calm down. He'll be here on time if he wants to do this."

Jonas whipped around. "What if he isn't here on time? What then!"

"Well," said Eliza in a sedate tone, "I imagine that would signify that he's decided not to do this, at least not tonight."

"It'd also signify that he's _crazy_," Jonas muttered.

Eliza smiled. "It's his choice Jonas."

Jonas sighed from deep within his chest. "I _know_," he said. "It's just that I want to help him."

"You really like him, don't you," said Eliza.

Jonas shot her a half-smile. "Yeah. He kinda reminds me of myself."

Eliza laughed. "I knew there was something about him that seemed familiar!"

Jonas chuckled. "What, his rugged good looks?"

"No," Eliza replied, "his complete disregard for the rules!"

"Hey!" said Jonas in a mock-hurt tone, "I don't disregard the rules!"

"True," agreed Eliza with a smile on her face, "_you_ shatter them with a two foot solid steel breaker bar!"

"And don't you forget it!" shot back Jonas.

"Forget what?"

Jonas and Eliza looked up to see the four Kanes walking towards the temple. Jonas' face broke into a huge smile. "You decided to come! Excellent!"

TJ bobbed his head. "I wasn't sure if doing this to thwart an inconvenient law would have honored God, I needed time to pray and listen. I'm still not sure, but I don't get any signs from him that this is wrong, so I'm going for it."

Jonas smiled. "Right this way then!"

The group walked into the Temple. Inside the door, an old man with long hair stood with his hands hidden in the sleeves of his robe. He motioned the group to follow him and strode down the hall. Jonas and Eliza followed him. TJ glanced at the other Kanes, then shrugged and strode after the other humans with his brothers in tow.

Several minutes and multiple dark hallways later, they arrived in a courtyard in the dead center of the building. Eliza and Jump Start stopped at the threshold and sat down. TJ shot them questioning looks. Eliza shook her head and said, "women and pokemon aren't allowed in the courtyard. Your brothers will have to stay here."

TJ bristled with anger. "Where I go, my brothers go. _Period_. If they have a problem with that, I'll find someone else to do this ceremony!"

An old and venerable-looking man hurried up to TJ. "Mr. Kane, the ceremony is about to start. Pleas come this way."

TJ glared at the man. "Not without my brothers!"

The man peered behind TJ. "They're welcome to watch as long as they don't enter the inner circle."

TJ stared at the old man. "You're positive?"

Eliza had an extremely guilty look on her face, causing the old man to stop. But really, what problem could there possibly be, as long as they just watched? "I'm positive," he said.

TJ nodded sharply. "Okay. Come on guys."

Skipper and Warrior trotted out after TJ into the courtyard. The old man's face turned ashen, but he had already acceded, and his pride wouldn't allow him to recant his permission. Swallowing nervously, he scurried after the Kanes.

OOOOOOOO

Inside the inner courtyard, Jonas stood next to a man who was clearly in charge. Behind them was a large stone altar. Next to the altar were various implements. TJ glanced at them and gulped. "Those look…unpleasant."

The man in charge glared at him, then at the pokemon behind him. "They can be. What have you brought into this sacred ring!"

TJ glanced behind him, then back at the man in charge. "I was told my brothers could watch."

The man in charge worked his jaw, speechless. Jonas tugged on his sleeve, then leaned in close and started whispering to him. While they were doing that, the venerable old man walked in, giving Skipper and Warrior a wide berth. Warrior glanced at him, and said, "boo."

The man jumped. "Keep away from me spawn of Shaiten! O Lord have mercy on this old servant's soul!"

The Kanes laughed, even Ranger, although he stopped periodically to wheeze. The venerable old man glared at the pokemon. "Little demons! What do you find so funny!"

TJ shook his head. Forcing himself to stop laughing, he muttered, "knock it off," out of the corner of his mouth.

Ranger glanced at him a bit resentfully, but sat down and crossed his arms. Skipper and Warrior looked a bit mutinous, but seemed to take their cue from Ranger. TJ turned back to the priest and said, "look, I know that they're not exactly welcome here, but they promise to stay outside the circle—you do promise, right guys?" he interjected. Skipper, Ranger, and Warrior all nodded their heads in agreement. "They promise," TJ continued, "and furthermore it would be cruel to prevent them from watching this. I'm some of the only family they have, and I'm about to undergo a very painful ordeal. They can't bear the pain for me, but if they're there to commiserate, they might feel a bit better about it."

The rabbi glared at the three pokemon, but after a few moments his eyes softened. "I understand. They cannot come into the ring, but they may stay."

The venerable old man gaped at the rabbi, then turned away muttering. The three pokemon settled down to watch. The rabbi glanced at TJ. "Are you ready?"

TJ swallowed hard, then nodded. Shucking off his shirt, he stepped up to the stone altar, and gritted his teeth as his wrists and ankles were tied down.

The residents of that part of the city were woken up several times that night by screams of pain.

OOOOOOOO

Dawn broke the next morning to reveal a sun that was red and swollen, as if it had been spattered with blood. As the morning progressed, many of the local residents commented on how strangely full and red it looked. Only a few select members of the community knew the why. They didn't tell anyone.

Around ten thirty, the Kanes walked out of the pokemon center. Only a doctor would have noticed the careful manner in which TJ walked. Warrior and Skipper kept shooting him looks every so often, as if to make sure he was okay. Ranger was still riding in the duffle bag, but thanks to the pokemon center he now felt well enough to sit up and observe his surroundings. Moving slowly, the four Kanes headed in the direction of the college…and Roxanne's gym.

The actual Gym was located at the grade school next to the college. Children of all ages ran and played in front of the building while watchful teenagers mediated their fun. The Kanes walked through the front door and into the office. TJ caught the receptionist's eye and said, "we're here for a gym battle. Could you direct us to Roxanne?"

The receptionist smiled apologetically and said, "I'm sorry, I'm afraid she's busy with a class right now. You can come back tomorrow if you like."

TJ's back burned. Forcing himself not to scratch it, he smiled just a bit too sweetly and said, "really? Which class is she teaching?"

The receptionist frowned. "I'm not allowed to give out that information."

TJ nodded. "I understand completely, it's just that Roxanne told me yesterday to show up at this time today for a battle, and she wouldn't tell me why. I think we're supposed to be a firsthand demonstration."

The receptionist looked slightly confused. "I don't remember her saying anything about a demonstration…"

TJ nodded sagely. "She wouldn't have, we caught her as she was leaving."

The receptionist frowned in thought. Finally she said, "well, I guess it's all right. Roxanne is in room two twelve."

TJ bobbed his head and smiled. "Thank you very much ma'am!"

The Kanes walked out of the receptionist's office and down the hall. As soon as they were out of the receptionist's hearing, Warrior shot TJ an accusing look and said, "what the heck was that!"

TJ rolled his shoulders nervously. "What do you mean?"

"You lied to her!"

TJ sighed. "Well, I couldn't think of a way to get in. It seems like she's always busy!"

Warrior shook his head. "TJ, this isn't like you. What's going on?"

TJ stared off into space for a minute, then said, "I don't know."

OOOOOOOO

Room two twelve turned out to be a large lecture hall. The title on the door said battle tactics. TJ looked at the others. "You ready for this?"

Skipper and Warrior nodded. Ranger sighed unhappily and said, "I wish I could fight!"

The other Kanes smiled sadly. Skipper said, "You have to rest and get better! You can fight the next one, okay?"

Ranger smiled. "Okay."

TJ turned the door knob and walked into the room. Roxanne was standing at the podium, indicating the board behind her. She looked up at the Kanes, frowned and said, "can I help you?"

TJ did not smile. His heart pounding, his throat dry, he said, "we're here for a gym battle."

Roxanne frowned. "I'm a bit busy right now, try again tomorrow."

TJ chuckled. It was not a friendly sound. "Looks to me like you're just teaching some children. I say we put it to a vote! Hey," and he turned to look at the class, "show of hands, who wants to see their teacher do a live demonstration of today's lesson?"

The class rumbled nervously. Then, a hand went up. It was quickly followed by another, and another, until most of the class were holding their hands in the air. TJ looked at Roxanne and allowed the barest glimmer of a smirk to appear on his face. "Well, there you have it. Looks like everyone's itching for a field trip."

Roxanne looked at her class for a moment. Then she sighed and glanced back at TJ. "Fine, I'll battle you. Meet me in the gym in ten minutes."

TJ shook his head. "No way lady, that gives you time to call law enforcement. Let's walk down _together_, hmm?"

Roxanne frowned. "You're smarter than you look."

TJ's eyes narrowed. "_You_ should work on your veiled insults, they suck."

Roxanne glared at him. "Fine! Class, we're going on a field trip!"

TJ nodded slowly. "I'll wait," he said.

OOOOOOOO

Ten minutes later, the class trooped down to the gym. TJ kept his eyes on Roxanne; the entire trip, she stared into space, thinking. As they arrived at the gym, she smiled sweetly. TJ's fingers twitched nervously. One of Roxanne's teacher aides stood up on the judges' podium. "This battle will be a two-on-two battle between the Gymleader Roxanne and the challenger TJ! Each trainer may only use two pokemon! The battle is over when all of he combatants on one side are unable to continue battling! You may now begin the battle!"

Roxanne smiled again, her expression just a little too sweet. "Feel free to choose your two pokemon!"

TJ smirked grimly. "My mother would never forgive me if I preempted a lady such as yourself! After you!" Inside, however, he was sweating. _What's going on,_ he thought. _Why am I feeling so spiteful to her?_

Roxanne's mouth twisted in annoyance. Drawing back her hand, she tossed two pokeballs which opened to reveal a Geodude and a Nosepass. TJ nodded in grim acknowledgement, then motioned to Skipper and Warrior. The two Kanes hopped out into the battlefield ready to fight. Sighting down on Roxanne's Nosepass, TJ shouted, "Skipper! Mud Slap Nosepass! Warrior! Cover him!"

Roxanne smiled sweetly. "Class, please observe how he commands his team. He's using a freight train formation to try and cover his weak points, with a sudden burst attack to throw me off guard."

All four Kanes stared at her, nonplussed. Skipper slowed in his charge to stare at the crazy woman who continued to teach instead of battling. TJ collected himself and shouted, "LADY! WE'RE BATTLING HERE! CARE TO JOIN US?"

Roxanne glanced at him, then back at her class. "As I was saying, his tone indicates that he's unable to properly control his team without threat of imminent harm, which is a terrible way to handle things…"

TJ shook his head in disbelief. "Skipper, Warrior," he intoned, "crush 'em"

Skipper nodded. Resuming his dash, he was shocked to find that Roxanne's Nosepass was no longer where it had been. Spinning wildly, he searched for his target. At the sound of a thud, he turned around to see Warrior collapse from Nosepass's blow. Enraged he shouted, "you're Magikarp food!" and sprayed the Nosepass with his strongest jet of water. TJ stared at the calamity that had been an easy win and shook his head in confusion. Roxanne turned around and smiled at him. "I hope you don't mind," she said in a voice laden with syrupy sweetness, "but I've trained my pokemon to continue to battle while I teach. That way I won't lose time to Gym battles."

TJ seethed. "Warrior! You okay?"

Warrior stood up groggily. Shaking his head violently, he jumped up and snarled, "bring it on!"

TJ nodded. "Skipper! Go for the Nosepass! Warrior, slam dunk the Geodude!"

Skipper jumped towards the Nosepass, who collapsed on the ground and dodged. As Skipper landed, Nosepass glowed and unleashed a rock tomb attack, pinning him. Meanwhile, Warrior was playing dodgeball with the Geodude. Geodude would shoot towards him, intent on crushing him like a grape. But at the last minute, Warrior would dodge and the Geodude would ram solidly into the wall. After about the fifth or sixth time this happened, the Geodude was no longer going at quite the same speed. TJ scanned the field and shouted, "Skipper! Switch to Geodude and finish him with Water Gun! Warrior, keep Nosepass busy!"

The two brothers switched. While Skipper proceeded to annihilate Roxanne's Geodude, Warrior faced off against Nosepass. Nosepass glared at him and snarled, "Pasnosepass nose passpass!"

Warrior smirked. "If you say so, limestone breath."

Nosepass shrieked an embarrassingly high-pitched battle cry, and charged towards Warrior. Warrior jumped out of the way, rolled on the ground, and jumped to his feet behind Nosepass. "Missed me granite jowls!"

TJ shook his head and chuckled. _He truly is the most annoying creature on earth,_ he thought. Warrior continued to dodge Nosepass, although he was starting to look tired. Skipper had Geodude right where he wanted. With a final overpowered jet of water, he managed to smash the little ball of rock into the wall. Geodude hung there, unable to fight any more. "YES!" shouted TJ.

Warrior looked over at his brother's defeated opponent. "All RIGHT!" he shouted. And in that one moment when he celebrated his brother's accomplishment, disaster struck. Heaving from exhaustion, Nosepass was still able to hit Warrior with a Rock Tomb. Warrior squeaked once, and then his type weakness betrayed him, and he sunk into unconsciousness. Skipper shouted in dismay, then charged at Nosepass, spewing jets of water. Nosepass was unable to dodge Skipper's attack, and went down. Skipper skidded to a stop, shouting in triumphant vindication.

As the dust from Nosepass' fall settled, TJ saw Nosepass glowing, an angry glint in it's eye. "Skipper! Get out of there!"

His warning came too late. Skipper was hit dead on by Nosepass's Rock Tomb attack. As sand and dust flew everywhere, TJ and everyone else in the room held their breath, waiting to see who would walk away from this clash of wills. Finally, the dust settled to reveal a very unconscious Skipper lying beneath the slabs of rock. The judge raised a red flag and stated, "Mudkip is unable to battle! The winner of the match is Roxanne!"

Roxanne's class broke into applause as TJ sighed. Roxanne turned around and smiled triumphantly at TJ and said, "same time tomorrow? When I'm _not_ busy?"

TJ took a deep breath. _It's now or never,_ he thought to himself. Gripping the railing on the edge of the field, he said, "this battle isn't over yet!"

Roxanne stared at him. "Two pokemon per trainer! The battle's over when both pokemon are unable to continue battling!"

TJ shook his head. "For a schoolteacher, you're incredibly dense. You should listen more carefully to the referee at the beginning! He said the battle's over when all of the combatants on one side are no longer able to battle!"

Roxanne took offense at this statement. "You can't use your Treecko, that's covered by the rules! What other _com-bat-tants_ do you propose to take me on with!"

TJ sighed. Grabbing the hem of his T-shirt, he pulled it off to reveal the skin beneath. Roxanne and her class gasped collectively at the sight of myriad scars, the result of various hot implements being used on his skin. TJ tossed his shirt down on the bleachers and said, "Gymleader Roxanne, I challenge you to a code of seven battle!"

Roxanne gaped at him, not understanding. TJ sighed in frustration, and a fair amount of pain. The referee, meanwhile, was perusing a thick volume that looked like a league rulebook. Straightening suddenly, he picked up the book and scurried over to Roxanne, looking upset. Roxanne engaged him in whispered conversation for a moment, then straightened up and stared at TJ, horror mingled with revulsion dancing across her face. "You can't be serious!"

TJ glared at her. "Do you think I allowed some ancient hasidic priest to scar my body like this because it sounded like FUN?" he shouted. "I fight with my guys! And you have to as well, it states so in the rulebook!"

Roxanne glanced at the rulebook again, then back at him. Her face was white now, and she looked like she was about to throw up. But the referee motioned to her and pointed to a section of text. Roxanne read it, then glanced back up at TJ, savage triumph written all across her. "It states here, and I quote, 'in a code of seven battle, trainers must engage in battle when all of their allowable pokemon have been defeated.' You may have nothing left, but I still have Nosepass!"

TJ smiled grimly. "Did you get to the part where I'm allowed to bring a weapon?"

Roxanne and the referee perused the rulebook again. After a few moments, Roxanne glanced back up at him, looking frightened. "It does say that," she whispered.

TJ nodded. "Right, let's get this over with." Grabbing his bat, he jumped onto the battlefield, ready for action.

Looking panic stricken, Roxanne cried, "Nosepass! Crush him!"

Nosepass waddled towards TJ, charging up some sort of electrical field. TJ smirked and said, "you'll have to do better than that!" Whipping his bat into position, he sprinted down the field towards Nosepass. Nosepass stopped charging, and glowed blue-white. TJ leapt off the ground and landed on one of the stone slabs left over from Nosepass's last Rock Tomb. The slab began to move, as Nosepass attempted another one, but before it could land TJ leapt off and straight at Nosepass. There was no time to duck, no time for Nosepass to brace himself, just the resounding clang of TJ's bat as it connected. Nosepass flew fifteen feet into the wall and slid to the floor, limp and unconscious.

Roxanne stared, transfixed by the sight of her defeated Nosepass. Turning around slowly, she stared at TJ. "I forfeit," she squeaked out.

TJ stared at her, and for a brief moment the animosity that had been building was replaced with pity. He shook his head. And quietly said, "I'm sorry, that's not an option in this fight."

Roxanne and the referee double-checked the rule book, then Roxanne stumbled off of her podium and stepped onto the sand. Swallowing, she glanced around at the field, all confidence gone. TJ swung his bat up to rest on his shoulder, and walked over to her. Roxanne twisted to look at him, her body refusing to work properly. She looked deep into TJ's eyes, and saw…something. Something frightening. Unable to help herself, she closed her eyes and squeaked in fear.

TJ swung his bat up into position. For a few seconds, Roxanne faded out and he saw Norman instead, glaring at him as Ranger was pulped in the background. The pity he'd been feeling was replaced by a wave of hatred, and he cocked his bat back, ready to swing. Blood pounded in his head as he stared at the picture of…Wait, no it wasn't Norman. TJ blinked, and stared at the cowering twenty-something school teacher in front of him. Norman swam back into view, and he felt his anger return a bit. Images of Andy, both Andy, of Samantha McPhoenix attacking Skipper, of Norman again, all danced across his field of vision. _They're scum,_ he thought to himself angrily. He took a step back and charged.

Roxanne was only about twenty yards away. As TJ rushed her, more images flashed through his mind, heightening his rage. Twenty feet to go. TJ howled incoherently, his anger at the world for all they'd done to him and his boiling over and escaping its confines. Ten feet to go. TJ's gaze locked onto Roxanne and stayed there. Five feet to go. TJ snarled, "you're toast!" and sped up a bit. Two feet to go. TJ grunted with the strain of concentration. One foot to go. TJ jumped, and swung his bat up behind his back to strike.

As TJ's bat started to come down, the images swimming before his face all vanished, replaced by May's tear-streaked eyes. TJ twitched, his anger lurching horribly in his stomach and then ebbing away. His fumble was just enough that when Roxanne dropped to her knees in fear, he managed to miss her entirely. Roxanne opened her eyes, glanced around wildly, then clutched at her stomach and started throwing up violently.

TJ stared at her, breathing hard. May's face flashed before him, looking frightened this time, as if she was scared of him. _She _is_ scared of me,_ TJ realized. _Or at least she would be if I did this. I'd be no different than Andy!_

Thinking of Andy caused his anger to well up a bit. Again Norman swam across his field of vision. But abruptly, he was replaced by an image of Jonas arguing with the rabbi. TJ shook his head. _What the hell is going on!_

TJ glanced at Roxanne. Crouched on the ground, she reminded TJ of May, the day he'd saved her. Of Skipper when Kaz'd been attacking him. Of Ran-

TJ sighed. _She's _not_ Norman. She's not. Don't punish her for his crimes!_

Roxanne had stopped retching. Standing up shakily, she put her fists up in a pathetic attempt to defend herself. TJ glanced at her, his feeling of pity returning. _Now look at this fine mess you've gotten us into,_ he thought to himself. _She didn't deserve this,_ a deeper part of his psyche muttered to him. _A fight maybe, but she's not ready for a personal fight…she's so scared she can barely stand! You've started turning into Andy!_

TJ thought fast. He no longer wanted to pummel her, but the law stated someone had to be defeated. How was he going to pull that off without hurting her?

After a few seconds, TJ frowned at Roxanne, then charged again. This charge felt better, cleaner; no longer driven by rage, he was able to reduce the battle to just that, a battle. Weaving his bat past her guard, he attempted to strike. Or, so it appeared. At the last second he carried his charge a bit to far "accidentally", and they both went down in a tangle of arms. Roxanne whimpered in fear, flailing a bit. TJ allowed her flailing to knock his bat away, then wormed his arms around hers and locked her in a full headlock. "Listen _carefully_," he whispered into her ear.

Roxanne's struggles became slightly less insistent. TJ nodded. "Good. We can work all this out later, but I've decided I don't want to knock you out. It just wouldn't be right. So here's what's going to happen. In about twenty seconds, you're going to knee me in the nuts, and I'll release you. You get up and run, but you won't make it-I'll get to my bat before you escape. I'm going to swing my bat directly at your head, but stop just short of hitting you. When you feel that, you fall down and act unconscious, and I'll throw the match in my favor. If you don't do that, I _will_ fight you in earnest, okay?"

Roxanne nodded, then jabbed her knee into his nuts. TJ sucked in breath, but he'd had lots of practice thanks to Andy Rathbane, so it didn't slow him much. Roxanne was already a few feet away, running. TJ stood, grabbing his bat as he did, and swung his bat at her head. For a brief horrific second, he questioned whether he'd have the ability to stop it so precisely, but then he felt the lightest of taps, and he knew that Roxanne was fine. She fell beautifully, collapsing on the ground and twitching. TJ glanced at the referee, and nodded. The referee said, "This match is now over."

OOOOOOOO

There was a minor uproar, of course. The league flew in officials to doublecheck the code, then fired them and flew in new officials to triple-check the code. When even those officials came back saying the Kanes were legal, the league leader sighed and acknowledged that he could do nothing more than warn the other gymleaders. While all this happened, the Kanes spent a few days looking as innocent as possible. Skipper ate as much as he possibly could, while Ranger convinced Eliza to sneak him with her to work, where he read up on ancient history—specifically, ancient swordsmanship techniques. TJ and Warrior laughed when they heard about it. "Great," commented TJ, "you're learning to hit more accurately, efficiently, and painfully! Remind me not to challenge you to a game of mercy anytime soon."

Ranger mumbled a noncommittal response and continued to read.

TJ and Warrior considered indulging in their random impulses for a few days, but in the end they just spent time talking to Jonas and Eliza. The couple allowed them to stay at their house, which turned out to be a much nicer place than the pokemon center, so they took them up on it. Jonas and Warrior spent long hours watching cartoons, while TJ alternated between joining them and helping Eliza in the kitchen and around the house. He asked her why she didn't sit one afternoon. "I just like to clean," she answered. It was a very noncommittal answer, but TJ let it go. He felt something with these two, something strange and powerful. He didn't want to disturb it.

On their last day in Rustboro, all four Kanes sat on the deck with Jonas and Eliza. The six had just heard on the news that Roxanne had publically defended TJ's actions, thanks in part to a talk the Kanes had had with her in her hospital room. They had also just finished a hearty celebratory dinner. They sat in lawn furniture, digesting. Jonas looked at TJ and lazily said, "well, you did it. You got past the law and defended your brothers."

TJ nodded. "Yup."

Eliza glanced at the Kanes. "So what now? Onward to more gyms?"

TJ nodded. "And after that, the Hoenn League Championships!"

Jonas sighed. "I suppose we'll never see you again," he commented.

TJ shook his head. "Not for a while at least. We've got lots of things to do."

Eliza nodded slowly. She glanced at the ground for a moment, then looked up and said, "our wedding's set for summer of next year. I'd love it if you could be there. And bring your girlfriend too, I'd like to meet her!"

TJ smiled. "Send the invitation to Professor Birch; it's a date!"

Human and pokemon alike laughed at nothing, because none could bear to say goodbye.

OOOOOOOO

TJ strode through the hills, glancing at the scenery. Beside him, Skipper and a fully healed Ranger strode along, while Warrior once again took shotgun. Glancing at the sun, Skipper said, "shouldn't we be heading in the opposite direction?"

TJ glanced at him. "What makes you say that?"

"Well," said Skipper, "isn't that the direction Dewford's in?"

TJ shook his head. "We're not going to Dewford."

Warrior gawked at him. "Why not? Isn't that where most trainers go after defeating the Rustboro gym?"

TJ nodded. "Yeah, so?"

Ranger laughed. "I get it."

Skipper and Warrior stared at him. Laughing again, Ranger said, "he's going to Lavaridge, because he's annoyed that he did the traditional thing and beat Roxanne first."

Skipper and Warrior laughed, while TJ vigorously protested. It wasn't until it was right on top of them that Warrior noticed anything moving. "Quiet! Something's here!"

The Kanes formed a defensive triangle, with TJ once again in the middle. TJ reached for his bat, but felt only empty air. Spinning around, he reached again. "Guys!" he said, "my bat's gone!"

With a rustle of leaves, the thief zipped out of the trees and ran full out towards the ocean. TJ was able to glimpse the fluffy white tail of a Zangoose before it shot over an embankment and towards the cove. Sprinting after it, the Kanes arrived over the embankment to find that the cove began just past the drop. Swimming towards the opposite shore was the Zangoose, clutching his bat in its mouth. TJ looked at the ocean again, then glanced at Warrior and swore. "Come on," he said heavily, "let's find a way to cross and go after it."

The four Kanes turned away and started walking around the cove, fuming the entire way. From afar, they heard high-pitched laughter, that sounded suspiciously like a Zangoose.

**A/N:** Next chapter, a new character! He rocks! He's got woodsy goodness about him! And he's more annoying than Warrior! YAY!


	13. Blasted Thief!

**Author's Note: **Heya folks! Sorry, it's been a while since I updated this, my life's been kinda crazy. But I'm here to reward your patience with a new chapter! And it contains the unquestionable _best _fight scene I have ever written! So read, review, and enjoy!

**Note:** "Speaking"  
_Thinking_  
Pokéspeak  
Psychic conversations  
**Flashbacks**

Chapter 13:

Blasted Thief!

"Hey!" shouted Skipper, "come back!"

Ranger rolled his eyes. "Yeah, _that'll_ work," he said dryly.

Skipper stuck his tongue out. "You have a better idea?"

"As a matter of fact," Ranger said with a smirk, "I do." He pointed to a set of tracks leading into the forest. Putting a finger to his lips, he started following them.

TJ sighed. Crossing the cove had been arduous, and he didn't feel like hiking through a forest right now. On the other hand, he felt like not having his bat even less, so he forced his tired body to move after Ranger and Skipper while Warrior dozed on his shoulder.

The forest turned out to be filled with coastal trees, and very little underbrush. The majority of the sunlight was filtered out by the trees, so the forest was fairly cool. A profusion of life, some pokémon and some not, filled the forest with sound and flashes of movement. TJ smiled wearily at a family of Jigglypuff and Igglybuff whose path crossed his. Scanning the forest, he sighed deeply. _There's something very…healing about this forest_, he thought to himself.

Abruptly, Skipper and Ranger stopped dead. TJ glanced at Ranger, who was crouched in front of one of the trees. The Kanes were still, all listening hard. The faint sound of snoring could be heard wafting down from the tree's upper branches. TJ shot Ranger a questioning look. At his nod, TJ jerked his chin in the direction of the sound and Ranger began to climb.

The other Kanes waited silently on the ground, holding their collective breaths. After a few moments, there was a series of thumps, and Ranger fell to the ground. A Swellow hopped down, gabbled at Ranger angrily, then flew off.

"Hahahahahaha!!"

The Kanes spun around. Hanging off of a tree branch behind them, the thieving Zangoose was laughing hard enough to shake the branches around him. Ranger snarled in frustration. "Give us back TJ's bat!"

"_That'll work_," Skipper muttered sullenly.

The Zangoose laughed merrily. "What, you want this bat?"

Ranger glanced at TJ. TJ nodded. Ranger shuffled a bit closer to the tree. "Yeah, actually, we do!"

The Zangoose shook his head. "Shame shame! No use trying to sneak up on me little Treecko, I'm faster than anything you've seen!"

Ranger glanced around in thought for a moment. "How do you know?"

"Because I'm uber-fast!"

"Well, what about a Ninjask? Or an Arcanine? Are you faster than them?"

"Well, uh," the Zangoose cast about in thought for a moment, "I mean-"

"Hey! Hey Mr. Know-It-All!" squeaked Skipper, "if a tree falls in the forest, and no one's there to see it, does it make a sound?"

"Uh, what the heck does that-"

"Hey!" said Ranger, "how much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?"

"What the heck does that have to do with-"

"ANSWER ME THIS!" shouted TJ, "WHEN IS THE PRESIDENT OF UGANDA, WHO IS THE CAPITOL, AND WHERE WAS HE ELECTED!!!!"

The mysterious Zangoose stared at TJ. So did Skipper and Ranger. Finally, Ranger said, "what the heck was _that_?"

TJ shrugged meekly. "I just blurted out the first thing that came to mind."

The Zangoose frowned, then glanced down at Ranger. "Hey! I see what you're trying to do! Well it won't work pal! You still can't sneak past me!"

Most unfortunately for the Zangoose, Warrior chose that moment to jump down from the tree branch above him. Several furious minutes of battle ensued, then the Zangoose threw Warrior to the ground. Panting lightly, he glared at the Kanes angrily. "Okay, you're smarter than my other marks. Now I'm gonna _pulverize_ you!"

The Zangoose leapt up into the higher branches. TJ glanced around nervously. "Form up on me guys." Skipper, Warrior, and Ranger formed a defensive triangle with TJ in the middle. TJ slid into what he hoped looked like a vaguely threatening stance. _God, please don't let him attack me!_

The Kanes stood rigid and tense for about fifteen minutes. Finally, Warrior relaxed and kicked dust sullenly. "I think he dumped us."

Ranger smirked, his mouth tense. "He's not very good at it—he left us a trail." Pointing at some indeterminate spot in the foliage, he started off on his own path again. Skipper and Warrior glanced at TJ, who shrugged. "I know about as much about tracking as you guys. Don't ask me."

The three started off following Ranger.

OOOOOOOO

"No, this time I'm _really sure!_" said Ranger.

The other Kanes groaned. They'd been traipsing along in the forest for forty-five minutes, following one trail after another as Ranger desperately tried to track down their obnoxious antagonist. Ranger viewed their mission as a personal vendetta, and was determined to catch the bloody Zangoose. Eyes narrowed, he scanned the foliage for signs of quick passage. _Damn it,_ he thought, _this ain't funny. I want that weasel's ass. Barbecued and served on a platter._

Abruptly the path of missing leaves and crushed twigs ended. Ranger snarled out a swear word as he scanned the treetops ahead for signs of a moderately large animal moving through. A low growl of frustration tore its way up from his gut. _WHERE ARE YOU!!!_ he screamed in his head.

TJ walked up next to Ranger. "You okay man?"

Ranger shrugged his shoulders, trying to work out the tension. _What the hell is going on?_ he asked himself. Trying to think rationally through the red haze of rage, he shook his head. "Yes. _No._ I don't know. For no particular reason, I want to roast this guy and stake his head in my yard. I don't know what's going on, but I want to hurt him. _Baaaad_."

TJ frowned at his brother in consternation. _Hmm. Wonder what's got ahold of him?_ "Well, you'll figure it out. Any idea where our target is?"

Ranger closed his eyes, clenched his fist and jaw, inhaled, and mumbled something under his breath. "No clue."

"RRRAGHH!!!" Warrior vocalized. "Screw this! I'll be right back!"

He dashed to the nearest tree, scampered up the trunk, and disappeared. A few minutes passed, then the remaining Kanes heard a great cacophony of noise from off in the distance. The noise continued intermittently for fifteen minutes, then stopped. A few seconds later, Warrior reappeared. "I inquired of the locals where I might find our white weasel friend," he said, "and they happily told me the location of said fiend. Follow me."

Skipper smiled. "That was easy. Why didn't you just ask someone before, Ranger?" Happily oblivious, he trundled off after Warrior. TJ and Ranger exchanged glances. As they followed Warrior, Ranger grunted. TJ looked down at him. "Something on your mind?"

Ranger shook his head. "Remind me to _never_ piss off Warrior when I'm within reach."

TJ laughed just a bit too heartily. "Yeah, me too."

The two shuffled along uncomfortably, trying very hard not to think about what Warrior had just done.

OOOOOOOO

Warrior led them to a perfectly normal looking tree with heavy foliage and a large number of vines hanging from the branches. Ranger stared at him, unimpressed. "Yes, it's a very nice tree. But there's no Zangoose in it."

Warrior shot him a sidelong glance. "Who shoved a nail through _your_ tail? I _know_ there's no Zangoose in it, he's probably already left to find another victim. But this is where he keeps all his loot. TJ's bat'll be here."

Warrior started climbing the vines. TJ quickly followed suit. Halfway up, he glanced back at Ranger. "You coming?"

Ranger clenched his fist. The Zangoose's laughter echoed in his head once again. Flashes of a dark room from his memories burned through his mind, causing him to clench his jaw. Ranger forced himself to appear disinterested and said, "nah, I'm gonna keep an eye on Skipper."

TJ frowned at him. "Uh, oooo-kay. See ya in a few."

Ranger retreated back to his anger as Skipper bounded up the tree trunk. Dark thoughts swirled in his head. The Zangoose's laughter continually returned to echo through his mind, causing his anger to grow exponentially. _What's _wrong_ with me,_ he thought to himself. _Why do I hate this guy so damn much?_

There was a clunking sound from the tree, and TJ leapt down with his bat in hand. Warrior and Skipper followed, the former landing gracefully on his feet and the latter on his face. TJ glanced at Skipper to make sure he was okay, then looked at Ranger. "Ready?"

Ranger rotated his left shoulder, trying to dissipate his internal tension. "Yeah, I guess. Where to?"

TJ shrugged. "I was thinking we'd head towards Fallarbor town. At this point, it's the fastest way to Lavaridge. Besides, there's a pokémon center there. Food and rest and whatnot."

Ranger squinted at the tree. "Sounds great."

TJ stared at him. "You _sure_ you're okay?"

Ranger glared at the ground in front of him. "Never better," he growled through clenched teeth. "Let's go."

OOOOOOOO

The Kanes' trip to Fallarbor was uneventful after that. Whatever Warrior had done to the innocent bystander earlier, the fear it generated was more than enough to clear a path for the young brothers. The entire trip over the mountain took just short of three hours, and Ranger sulked for all of them. Even Skipper began to get tired of the constant funk surrounding his best friend in the whole world…All in all, everyone was pretty happy to see the pokémon center.

After the quartet booked a room, they headed for the cafeteria to grab some grub. TJ went to the kitchen while Skipper, Ranger, and Warrior grabbed a table. As TJ stood in line, he glanced at his little family. Skipper and Warrior were taking turns trying to coax a taciturn Ranger into his usual indifference, but Ranger stubbornly remained moody and emo. TJ frowned in thought. _What the hell's eating him?_ he wondered. He shook his head. "Three bowls of chili and a bowl of lentil soup please," he said to the cafeteria lady. She smiled happily—as always, TJ laughed to himself over the seemingly minor differences between this world and his—and handed him the requested meals. Balancing the tray carefully, TJ walked over to the table. "Eat up while it's hot guys."

It was early evening, and there were plenty of diners in the cafeteria. A low rumble of background chatter permeated the air as Skipper and Warrior attacked their bowls of chili. TJ picked at his bowl, eyeing Ranger. Glancing around to make sure that no one else, including Skipper and Warrior, was listening, he leaned over his bowl and muttered, "spill."

Ranger glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. "Spill what?"

"Come on Ranger!" TJ said. "I know you. You're upset about _something_, and I'm not leaving you alone until you tell me."

Ranger glared at TJ disdainfully. "The cafeteria closes eventually."

TJ smiled a wicked little smile. "So what you're telling me is that I have a time limit, and the longer it takes to get you to talk, the more necessary it will become to, say, proclaim to the patrons of this eatery—at the top of my lungs, no less!—that you're feeling depressed, and you need multiple full-body Ursaring-hugs from everybody in the room to get over it?"

Ranger gaped at TJ, stark horror stealing its way across his face. "You wouldn't _dare_!"

TJ sighed. "Ranger, the laws of this country are very explicit about our relationship. You are an intelligent, self-aware being with immense elemental powers and the capacity to do large quantities of damage. I am a comparatively weaker member of a race that by simple fluke, aka our ability to create and manipulate complex containment technologies, runs the world at the expense of the kajillions of other species living in it. According to law, I _own_ you, and you are supposed to be my little animatronic battle slave."

Ranger stared at TJ in shock and disgust, but TJ plunged forward. "That's what the law says, but that's not what I say. I've been on the bottom of the societal food chain, and it sucks. Furthermore, I love you."

The two sat in pregnant silence for a few moments, then Ranger cleared his throat and said, "what?"

"I love you. I love Warrior. There's an extra-special part of my heart reserved for the pure innocence that is Skipper. I don't care what this country wants, I love all of you like brothers…In fact, I consider you to be my brothers. My family. When you succeed, I rejoice. When you're angry, I want to avenge you. And when you're sad, I want to know what's wrong so that I can love and comfort you, just like I'd do with my biological brothers. So, yes, I am _dead _serious about the Ursaring-hug ploy, if it'll get you to talk. I don't know what's in your past, but it obviously caused you a lot of pain, pain that you haven't healed from, and from time to time it's triggered by something in your surroundings, and you just _shut down._ That causes _me_ pain. It causes _Warrior_ pain. And I'm willing to bet it causes Skipper a _truckload_ of misery, because you're his _world_, Ranger. Please, tell me what's wrong. Tell your _family_ what's wrong, and if we can't fix it, then at least we can suffer with you. It's what we want to…Ranger? Ranger! What's wrong! Tell me what's wrong!"

Ranger turned his head away so TJ wouldn't see the tears trickling down his face. _I knew this would happen, _he thought to himself. _I knew one day I'd get saddled with some lousy worthless no-good human piece of shit! I knew I'd have to deal with all sorts of pathetic worthless weird crap that I wasn't mentally and emotionally equipped for! I KNEW this would happen!_

Ranger sniffled a bit. _I knew it would happen…I just didn't think I'd end up with an actual _good_ human. One who liked me, psychosis and all. One that I liked. One that…I loved._ Ranger wiped his face and turned back to TJ. "I'm okay. Your sappy little speech was so pathetic that the stench made my eyes water, that's all."

TJ smirked. "Right. And I have purple polka-dots all over my bare ass."

Ranger squinted at him in a disturbed fashion. "Didn't need to know that."

TJ shrugged. "Sorry. So what's been bothering you?"

Ranger clenched his jaw as fresh anger surged through his system. He tried to force the words past his teeth—it was the least he could do after TJ's touching speech—but they just wouldn't come. He exhaled angrily through his nose.

TJ frowned, then sighed in defeat. Placeing a hand on Ranger's back, he said, "it's okay man. If it's really that big of a deal, I don't need to know. I just want you to understand that we, your brothers and I, are here for you, and when you're ready to talk, we'll listen."

Ranger felt something break inside of him. A tear rolled down his face, and he felt an immense sense of loss. He also felt like he had just won something very precious. He sighed. "That Zangoose just reminded me of…my past. It wasn't pleasant."

TJ smiled. "I can understand that. Neither is mine. 'S cool though, it happens. And you're handling it better than I did."

Ranger glanced at TJ quizzically. "What did _you _do?"

TJ blushed and shuffled uncomfortably. "I kind of kneed a guy in the nuts."

Ranger gaped at TJ, then started laughing. "Smooth move, Don Juan!"

TJ shrugged. "I try."

Ranger smirked good-naturedly. "Well, apparently you-"

A loud ringing interrupted him. The PA clicked, then a Chasey came on and announced something. Skipper and Warrior glanced up from licking their empty chili bowls. TJ looked at Ranger questioningly. "What'd she say?"

Ranger shook his head, a confused look stealing across his face. "Something about a first-level priority call from some place called 'Precinct 2145', and could the head nurse please come up front. She sounded…well, she sounded frightened."

TJ frowned. "Let's head up front and check it out."

OOOOOOOO

"Why are we sticking our noses into other people's business again?"

TJ made shushing motions with his hands. "Because we might be able to help them!" he hissed.

Ranger stared at him sardonically. "Aaaand what's in it for us, exactly?"

TJ frowned. "We get to feel good about ourselves."

Ranger snorted.

TJ sighed. "…_And_, we might get a free meal and/or room if we do."

"…sure if that plan is, ah, _wise_, Jenny," the nurse's voice floated over the leaves of the potted plant that TJ, Skipper, and Ranger were hiding behind. "We've already got a crowd forming out front, I think word has leaked."

TJ frowned. "Word of _what_ leaked," he muttered to himself.

"A thief's on his way," Warrior replied, crawling down the plant's trunk. "A pokémon thief. They caught him trying to rip something off from a police cycle, and they're transporting him to the nearest secure holding facility, in other words here. Seems like he's been around for a while, a lot of townfolk want to lynch him."

TJ frowned. "Any idea why Joy's so nervous about this?"

Warrior grimaced. "Did you not just hear the word _lynch_? That wasn't exaggeration; I can see the lynch-mob out front. If anything happens, they're gonna kill him. And they'll probably raze the area too. I think Nurse Joy's more worried about her building than the thief. I get the feeling he's not a popular character around here."

Ranger stared at TJ. "So, what exactly are we getting out of this again? Sounds like stopping the lynch-mob from lynching this guy would be pretty unpopular. I think we should just let 'em have him."

TJ's face held a deeply pained expression. "Saving you three was an unpopular action. Should I have let them take you away instead?"

The three pokemon shuffled nervously, and a deep and uncomfortable silence descended on the group. Finally, after few minutes had passed Skipper said, "I think we should help him!"

Ranger snorted derisively, but Warrior chimed, "I don't know about that, but 'innocent until proven guilty', and whatnot. I at least think he deserves a fair trial-"

"He's a pokémon," TJ interjected. "His trial will be anything but fair, and I'm willing to bet he'll have to represent himself."

Warrior sighed. "Well, we should scope the situation out before we do anything rash."

TJ nodded. "I agree." He exchanged glances with Skipper and Warrior, then the three turned in unison to look at Ranger.

Ranger shuffled uncomfortably under their gaze. "What?"

TJ quirked and eyebrow. "We think we should assess the situation."

Ranger shrugged. "I heard you."

"So?"

"So what?"

"Well, do you agree? This is kind of a team effort."

Ranger glared at them. "Why should we get involved in something which is painfully obvious is none of our business?" TJ, Skipper, and Warrior continued to stare at him. Ranger huffed in irritation. "It's stupid! This whole business is pure stupidity! We'll most likely get run out of town! And the police will be pissed at us! No! I don't wanna do it! You guys are stupid! You suck!"

The other Kanes continued to stare at him. Ranger growled in frustration, and in exhaustion. He knew in his heart that all the arguing necessary to talk them out of their stupid idea required more talking than he was able to handle. He also knew that there was a chance they were right, and he was just being jaded. Ranger sighed. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to just _look_," he conceded.

The other Kanes smiled. Skipper beamed happily and said, "See? I _told_ you Ranger was a good guy! He's the best!"

Ranger allowed a highly uncharacteristic smile to appear on his face. "Thanks Skipper."

TJ glanced about to make sure that no one was looking, then he and the other Kanes snuck out from behind the potted plant. Casually, they made their way towards the exit and the crowd beyond. Sliding through the massed townfolk, they arrived at the edge of the street and waited for the police.

After a few minutes, they heard the sound of a motorcycle engine from off in the distance. It grew steadily louder, until a police cycle with a steel cage in the sidecar appeared. As the car pulled up in front of the pokemon center, the mob began to mutter in anger. A female police officer stepped out of the car and pulled out a megaphone. "CLEAR A PATH TO THE POKEMON CENTER!" she shouted.

The crowd rumbled agitatedly, clearly not happy about this order. The policewoman, noticing this, shouted, "YOU ARE OBSTRUCTING OFFICIAL POLICE ACTION! YOU ARE ALSO GATHERED ILLEGALLY! LEAVE _IMMEDIATELY_, OR YOU WILL BE SUBJECT TO-"

"Hey!" someone cried, "he's loose! And running! Get 'im!"

The mob surged and shifted around the Kanes. People began to converge on a point to the left, and TJ fought through the crowd to gain a vantage point, while the other Kanes followed in his wake. Screams and sounds of fighting wafted over the heads of those on the edges of the circle. TJ finally managed to get to the inner edge of the circle, and glimpsed the target of the mob's fury. "Well I'll be a son of a gun!" he exclaimed.

Warrior frowned. "What? What's wrong?"

TJ glanced down, his expression strange and unreadable. "See for yourself," he said. Shuffling his feet, he spread them into a wide stance, allowing Skipper, Ranger, and Warrior to look through his legs.

Several humans were inside the ring, beating on what was unmistakably the Zangoose thief from that morning. Warrior glanced at him, and sniffed in disdain. "Well, I guess that answers _that_ question. Let's get outta here."

TJ, Skipper, and Warrior turned to leave, but stopped when they noticed that Ranger was frozen in place, eyes locked on the Zangoose. TJ frowned. "Ranger? You okay?" Ranger continued to stare, unblinking. TJ sighed. "Look man, I know you want to cream him yourself, but it's kind of dangerous to go in there right now. This is one time when we should just _walk away_, you know?"

Ranger heard TJ, understood his words, but he was unable to answer. He was unable to look away from the poor Zangoose as he was savagely beaten. He once again heard the Zangoose's obnoxious laugh echo through his head…

**Smoke, and fire. He hears the farmer laugh maniacally as the flames of the fireplace draw closer, and he knows that the farmer is mad, and is going to burn him as kindling. The laughter continues, ringing around the room as the smoke obscures his vision. His consciousness begins to fade…**

Ranger shook his head to clear the memories. A tear rolled down his cheek. Looking up, he saw one of the humans deliver a vicious kick to the Zangoose's stomach with his boot-

**He sees the farmer's boot, as it swings toward him. Something happens, some strange trick of reality, and he ceases existence for a few minutes. When he comes to, the pain is immediate. He opens his eyes, his face and neck are on fire. This is worse than the fireplace, at least that promised to be over quickly. He stares at the farmer's boot, but he is unable to comprehend the red smear on the toe. Then, he reaches up to feel his neck, to see why it's so sore. He moves further up his body to his jaw, and white hot pain erupts behind his eyes. He pants for a few seconds, sluggishly dodging the farmer, then he feels something strange on his hand. He looks down to see more of the strange red substance that stains the farmer's boot smeared on his palm…**

Ranger snapped back to the present violently. He watched as the savage beating continued. Memories chased their way around his head, torturing him. He stared at the Zangoose, unable to decipher the situation. Aggressor? Victim? He couldn't tell. Ranger felt pressure building in his head until he plunked down in the middle of the crowd and screamed.

A few members of the mob glanced at him, but they quickly lost interest. As the building pressure in his head trickled away into nothing, Ranger exhaled deeply. _I am a _seriously_ screwy guy,_ he thought to himself. _I have issues. My _issues_ have issues, for heaven's sake! I'm a bloody repentant murderer who'd do it again, and I'm completely justified socially because the system sucks! And I'm completely and totally going to burn in hell for those I've murdered!_

Ranger inhaled deeply, then exhaled to a count of five. Forcing himself to focus, he looked up at the Zangoose. _Regardless of my past and my issues, if I don't help him they'll kill him. And I'm surprised to admit I don't want that to happen._

Ranger glanced up at TJ. TJ stepped forward, concerned about the look in his eyes. "Ranger," he said, "what are you th-"

"BANZAI!!!" shouted Ranger. Yelling incoherently, he charged towards the growing mass of humans beating the Zangoose. One of the humans turned, just as Ranger leapt and Pounded his face. Hard. Blood spurted out of the human's nose, and just like that Ranger was on the attack. He landed on another human's face and headbutted him on his forehead. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he propelled himself backwards and kicked his feet to fly into a spinning Pound to a third human's abdomen. There was a rush of air, and Ranger felt someone fall to the ground behind him. Turning around he saw a human lying on the ground as TJ stood over him and glared, bat in hand. TJ shot Ranger a look that conveyed a long conversation down the line. Ranger shrugged. Then another human managed to hit him with a thrown rock. "Son of a Granbull!" Ranger snarled.

"HEY!!!" screamed Skipper, "YOU CAN'T DO THAT TO MY BROTHER! TACKLE!!!!!" The man was knocked flying, landing in the crowd.

The remaining humans drew back, muttering. Suddenly bright light erupted all around the Kanes. When it faded, multiple pokémon stood in a large circle around the four combatants. Several nasty-looking fighting types were glaring at Ranger…And behind them stood a pair of angry-looking Swellow. _Flying types! Crap!_ thought Ranger. _Okay, now what?_

The four Kanes moved to form a diamond around the battered Zangoose. TJ glanced at Ranger. "Well, you charged in here. Any bright ideas?"

Ranger eyed the circle of fighting types with the odd flying type here and there. "Yeah. Don't lose."

TJ rolled his eyes. "Brilliant. Bloody brilliant."

And then there wasn't time for words. Ranger couldn't even see his brothers; it was a nightmare of pounding fists, kicking feet, and the odd beak aimed at his throat. A hefty Machoke came barreling towards Ranger, trying to clothesline him while he was busy with one of the Swellow. Ranger ducked just in time. The Swellow he'd been facing took the attack head-on, but seemed unfazed. _Course not,_ Ranger thought, _he's strong against fighting. And me._

Out of nowhere a foot stretched and smacked him on the chest. Winded, Ranger sank to the ground, trying to breath. The Machoke was waiting for him, and his fist knocked Ranger through the air. He rolled to a stop eight feet away…right in front of the Zangoose. Ranger's head spun, and his stomach ached as if he had to throw up. _Probably do,_ he thought. _And I'll bet a few of my ribs are cracked again. Damn._

Ranger was tired, and in pain, so it's understandable that he missed it at first. Lying on the ground waiting for the nausea to pass, he noticed a persistent, if weak, call. Looking around, he finally realized that the Zangoose was trying to talk to him. He glanced towards the beaten thief. "Whattaya… want?" he wheezed.

The Zangoose's eyes were clear, as if he had transcended the pain. He looked at Ranger intensely and asked, "why?"

Ranger stopped short. Why was he doing this? This Zangoose wasn't really a family member; in fact, he'd attacked Ranger's brothers, and reminded him of exceedingly bad times. TJ, Skipper, and Warrior had been ready to walk away. Why couldn't he?

Ranger smiled. Deep within his soul, his long-dormant heart glowed a bit brighter as warmth raced throughout. Ranger looked up at the Zangoose. "Because I've… been in… your position." he gasped. "I under… stand that… it's not very… pretty…" Ranger smiled warmly, and he felt it from the very depths of his soul. "Can't believe I'm… saying this… but… I… forgive you…" And he meant it.

Drawing a deep breath, Ranger mentally shunted the pain to one side and stood upright. No longer flailing like a beserker, he carefully scanned the battlefield looking for any sort of advantage he could claim. _All fighting types and flying types,_ he thought. _Not much to work with… gotta be something though._ He carefully eyed each opponent, looking for a weakness, an opening he could exploit… and then he saw it.

Locked in battle with TJ and his bat, a Farfetch'd swung wildly at Ranger's brother. Ranger's lip curled as his eyes lighted upon the tawny duck's leek-sword. _Bingo,_ he thought.

Forcing his battered body to move, he dashed towards TJ and the Farfetch'd. TJ swung down at the bird with his bat, but the Farfetch'd dodged. It prepared to counterattack, but Ranger stole the opportunity right out from underneath him. As he slid underneath the Farfetch'd, he snatched the leek-sword from its grasp. Before the shocked bird could regain its bearing, Ranger jumped up, spun around, and sliced brutally at the bird's exposed head. The Farfetch'd collapsed to the ground unconscious. Ranger glanced at TJ once, then dashed off to cover his quadrant. In his absence, the Swellow and the Machoke had moved towards the Zangoose while a Hariyama, most likely the culprit behind the phantom foot, had covered them. Ranger was on them before they knew what was happening. He swiped the Machoke a few times, feeling gratified as the leek-sword left welts on its skin. Leaping in the air, he spun in a corkscrew to batter at both Swellow, knocking them away from the Zangoose. Landing on the ground, he pivoted and faced the Machoke, who was still in the process of turning around to face the new threat. _Just you and me now pal,_ he thought. _You better pray your friends are fast, cause I'm gonna toast you._ Shifting his grip on the leek-sword, he charged forward. He feinted a blow at the Machoke's unprotected head, then swept under its guard and hit it in the ribs. The Machoke moved to cover its exposed side, and Ranger took the opportunity to kick it in the solar plexus. _You're _mine_ asshole,_ he thought.

Then out of nowhere, one of the Swellow rocketed down and hit him head on with its beak. _Damn,_ thought Ranger as pain blossomed through his body. Ranger plowed into the earth. The Swellow flapped its wings hard to correct its flight path, stirring up a great cloud of dirt and dust. The cloud billowed out until it obscured Ranger, the Machoke, the Zangoose, and both of the Swellow. After about ten minutes, the dirt settled back down.

Ranger shook his head to clear it. When he'd hit the ground, he'd been fighting the creeping blackness at the edge of his vision. Then, he'd felt funny. Everything had gone white, and he'd felt tingly and warm. He now lay on the dirt, breathing. He realized that while he still felt just as tired, he no longer felt quite as beat up. He stood gingerly. Offhand, he noticed that he was taller…Ranger did a double take. Glancing down, he realized he was different. _What the—I evolved? The heck?!_

Ranger glanced at his wrists. He vaguely remembered the Grovyle of his village, and how they ought to look. The leaves on his wrists were nothing like theirs. Instead, they were thin, long, and ran down his arms and past his elbows. They felt strong. Ranger flexed them experimentally, and was utterly shocked when he felt the flowing energy of his body enter into them. The leaves on Ranger's wrists began to glow, and extend. Three feet long, an inch and a half wide, and very sharp, Ranger now sported backwards katanas on each wrist. "Leaf Blade…" he whispered in awe.

The Machoke coughed violently, rubbing its eyes. Ranger glanced swiftly around to locate his foes. The Zangoose, the Machoke, the Swellow, and the Hariyama had all gotten dust in their eyes and down their throats. _Guess that bastard did me a favor hitting me like that,_ Ranger thought. _Not that that makes it okay. Let's see what these puppies can do!_

Ranger raised his arms in front of him and charged. As the world around him blurred, he came to appreciate some of the other changes brought on by evolution, such as greatly enhanced speed. Ranger's right arm shot in the air, and he slashed down at the Machoke's left bicep. A moderately deep gash appeared and began bleeding. Ranger was jarred by the sight of it. _Gotta be careful,_ he thought. _These are a _lot_ sharper than that leek! I could seriously hurt someone, which is what I'm trying to stop. Gotta control my fight better!_ He pivoted and dashed towards the Hariyama. As the bulky pokemon loomed in front of him, Ranger slashed quickly several times instead of using one powerful stroke. He scored a few nicks and cuts, but he missed more than he hit. _Guess there's more to it than reading a book,_ he thought with chagrin. Jamming his left blade into the ground, he kicked his feet up and allowed his momentum to hurl him into a 180. Swinging his feet out he wrenched his blade out of the dirt and shot towards the Hariyama, flipping around as he did so. His shoulder collided with the Hariyama's head, and Ranger distinctly heard a pop. Ignoring the pain radiating from the impact point, Ranger vaulted over the toppling Hariyama and ran full tilt towards the Machoke. Skidding to a stop to its left, Ranger sprayed the Machoke's wounded arm with dirt, sand, and gravel. Ranger winced as the Machoke bellowed in pain. While the Machoke clutched its left arm, Ranger slipped his left blade behind its weight-lifting belt and yanked back next to the buckle. The belt fibers sliced cleanly off, and Ranger caught the falling piece of apparel before it hit the ground. Grasping the severed cloth firmly, he whipped it in a semi-circle and smacked the Machoke upside the head. The Machoke grunted, then collapsed on the ground.

Ranger stood panting, glancing around wildly for the two Swellow. He allowed his wrist blades to go limp as he hunched over and caught his breath. Grasping the belt firmly in his left hand, he strained his senses to detect the birds.

He was almost too late. Closing at a ludicrous speed, the two Swellow came in low and fast with a dual Aerial Ace. Their hearts were steady; both birds were confident that the only question was who would hit Ranger first. When they were three yards away, he spun around and stared at them. The two Swellow smirked in triumph. There was no dodging now.

And then, when they were two feet away, Ranger's form blurred and disappeared.

The birds were shocked. Flapping hard, they tried to shed momentum and turn around for another pass, but it was too late. Ranger appeared crouched between the two Swellow, whirling the belt above his head like a lasso. The birds had enough time to stare at him in disbelief, then they were both conked on the head and fell to the ground.

Ranger stood. Striding away from the downed pokemon, he walked up to a Makuhita that was harassing Skipper and kicked it eight feet. As it landed, the thud caused the various local pokemon to stop and stare at the tall, angry-looking Grass type. TJ took advantage of the lull to shout, "I THINK IT'S PRETTY OBVIOUS THAT WE'RE GOING TO WIN, AND I THINK IT'S JUST AS OBVIOUS THAT IT'S GONNA HURT WHEN WE DO! WE JUST WANT THE ZANGOOSE TO WALK OUT OF HERE ALIVE! TRUCE?"

The townfolk muttered uneasily. Everyone looked decidedly unhappy about allowing their tormentor to leave, but no one seemed brave enough to attack such powerful warriors. Finally, a man stepped forward. Glancing at the mob ringing the battle field, he said, "your proposal makes sense, and is generous. I see no problem with the thief walking away if it will stop this." Scanning the ring to see if anyone was in disagreement, he stepped back into the crowd.

TJ nodded, and the four Kanes converged on the Zangoose. Ranger knelt at his head and asked, "can you walk?"

The Zangoose laughed without humor. "I have a black eye, a broken nose, two missing teeth, a sprained ankle, and at least three fractured ribs. And that's just what I _can_ feel hurting; no accounting for areas numb from shock. I don't really think so."

TJ nodded. "Here," he said. He fished a bottle labeled 'super potion' out of his duffel and sprayed half the contents on the Zangoose's body. He handed the bottle to the Zangoose and said, "drink this." Then he reached into the duffel and grabbed a T-shirt, and started tearing it into strips. When he had about five good-sized strips, TJ wrapped them carefully around the Zangoose's chest, then tied them tight. "Walk carefully," he advised, "those will only keep the broken bones from shifting too much. Your breathing will be a bit restricted, so try not to take deep breaths, and take it easy. That potion'll make you heal faster, but I'd still leave your chest bound for a few days. And take this," he reached into the bag and pulled out a wooden walking stick he'd brought from home. "You should be able to use it as a crutch. Again, take it easy on the ankle for a few days, say three or four. If you do that, you'll heal up fine."

The Zangoose grabbed ahold of the walking stick and stood up slowly. He stared at TJ, Skipper, Ranger, and Warrior. "Why?" he croaked.

TJ frowned. "Well, Ranger wanted to save you. And even if we weren't sure why, he's our brother. We stand by him."

Everyone shuffled nervously to cover the awkward silence. Then Skipper added, "plus, we were being stupid. Even if you stole from us, helping you is the right thing to do."

The Zangoose stared at them, an uncomprehending look on his face. Still staring at them, he stumped off towards the pokemon center and the uninhabited forest behind it. The Kanes followed behind him to make sure that no one in the crowd tried anything stupid. After the Zangoose disappeared behind the center, TJ and the other Kanes turned around and faced towards the crowd. In the distance the sound of several police sirens wailed ever louder as backup approached. Idly Ranger wondered if the backup had delayed themselves purposely. Glancing at the dirt road in front of them, he shook his head and smiled. Looking up at TJ, a much easier task than it was before the battle, Ranger said, "I just might come to like this selfless baloney you yahoos always babble on about. There's something to be said for helping save your enemies. Certainly makes you feel good!"

TJ smiled wryly. "Let's see how good it feels when they arrest us for inciting riot, or whatever trumped up charge it is they're gonna hit us with." He nodded in the direction of the police officer, who came striding towards them with a stern look on her face.

Ranger laughed. "You seem pretty relaxed for a man who's about to be arrested. If I didn't know better I'd say you're feeling downright giddy!"

TJ shrugged. "Yeah, well, you know all that self-sacrifice baloney I babble about constantly?"

Ranger smiled very widely. "Yeah?"

TJ quirked an eyebrow. "It makes you feel _really_ good inside when you do it."

All four Kanes were laughing heartily as the angry police officer reached them.

**A/N:** And that's a wrap! As always, I love reviews so please do! Hopefully the next chapter should come out a bit faster than this one die! Hasta la vista friends!


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